


Born Unto Trouble

by desertgemz



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, and i also hope everyone knows that my lw & courier are lesbians, it's basically just fnv/fo3 in a story that's also bad, it's mostly femslash, it's not that deep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-05-27
Packaged: 2018-07-10 15:22:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 51,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6990952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desertgemz/pseuds/desertgemz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And with death, new heroines will be reborn;<br/>A story about the Lone Wanderer and the Courier</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1. A Little Exposition to Pave The Way

In the end, we're all destined to die.

By natural causes or otherwise, it's a part of life. Most people have accepted it by now.

As the world burned up in flames on October 23, 2077, Maria Remigio and her family were working underground at her local church. Sixteen members of that church survived that day, in a tiny town in northern Mexico.

Maria was eight years old, and she was ten by the time radiation had turned her and her parents into grotesque monsters. But that was okay, as long as they had each other.

And when she turned one-hundred-sixteen, she decided that she was going to brave the world; go out on her own and find her destiny.

She had traveled most of what used to be the United States until, in 2252, she settled down in a broken-down manor on the banks of the Sabine River with a stranger.

The stranger was a genderless person named Ray. They wore thick black armor and a gas mask to cover their face. They were mute, and Maria only knew Spanish, so communication was scarce between them.

They spent a good twenty years in that house, learning about each other in curious and amazing ways.

____

And in the ruins of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, stood Vault 53. A vault over-packed with only French-speaking citizens, and in 2100, the residents opened the door for the first time and greeted the new world with excitement and wonder.

The first thing to do was simple: build water purifiers in the Mississippi River to provide water and power for the residents.

Scientists compared notes, tested the water, and came up with ideas for this grand feat, and by 2217, the water purifiers were up and running, providing free water and power to everyone in Baton Rouge.

And in that same year, Fredrick and IreneGeroux had a baby girl they named Elise.

Elise grew up like any normal child, carefree and lovable, and had a knack for great plans to get outta Baton Rouge and explore the world.

By thirteen, she read up on tourism in the city and decided that's what she was going to do.

And by fourteen, she learned and spoke English fluently to provide translation services to people who wanted to see the water purifiers and explore the city.

But in the end, things don't end up as they seem. Irene became ill and passed away, her father following shortly after, and by sixteen, Elise was alone.

Packing her bags, she headed east to explore the world and see what this new country has to offer.

____

This is how stories go. Children are born and become heroes or villains.

Rosalina Elizabeth Cruz was born July 5, 2251.

Gloria Hill on July 13, 2258.

Ace Sanchez on August 26, 2258.

Stacy Li Cole on February 20, 2257.

And we'll begin with Gloria Hill.

________

 

Teenage angst can also be described as "severe depression" and "suicidal tendencies" from a doctor's perspective—something Gloria was used to. Through throwing up and starving herself and drug use and everything else under the grey, concrete roof of the Vault, Gloria coped. Barely.

That feeling in her chest, emptiness and apathy, wasn't angst. It was... something else. Something she has lived with for the past few years, if she remembered correctly. The days blended together, weeks and months were a blur, and she could forget about years. They were all the same.

She tried to drown out her father tapping his pen against a clipboard as he waited for her to talk. She didn't agree to therapy—it was forced on her when her father found her laying in a pile of her own vomit and blood and there was probably a gun or a knife or a noose involved? She didn't remember the details, only that it was her fourth time she tried to kill herself.

What a coward she was. She couldn't go through with it. Even as she begged for death every day of her life, she doesn't have it in her to take it herself.

"Gloria," her father snapped her out of her thoughts. She didn't bother looking at him as he continued, "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit." She stared at her hand before he began to write things down, the scratching of his pen against the clipboard was worse than the tapping. She didn't want to snap at him, though, that would only make it worse.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" He thought using his Dad Voice would make her talk, and he was wrong. She crossed her right leg over her left, and sighed, "Can I go?"

"I would let you go, but you haven't told me what's wrong."

Great. She closed her eyes and huffed, "I wanna kill myself. All day, every day. What's new?"

Like he cares anyway. He never bothered to ask her what was wrong outside the office. He only focused on work these days. Even if she had been working with him and his assistant Jonas for about a year, he still hadn't trained her to be a doctor. That was his job, too, not just hers.

Granted, she usually never went to work, but that's a different story.

It had been about three minutes and no one has said anything. Gloria knew it was because there wasn't anything to say, only a fake apology and an upped prescription of antidepressants.

Whatever. She shoved pills down her throat for fun, what's the harm in using them for actual medication?

Nothing had changed when she left the clinic after her appointment. She waved at Jonas as she passed him, and she assumed he was going into her father's office to fool around or whatever they did behind closed doors. It was none of her business.

Amata pushed herself off the wall when Gloria walked out of the clinic, giving her a patient smile when her girlfriend leaned against the wall next to her.

"It went that bad, huh?" Amata was always able to tell when Gloria was upset; she was always upset, though.

She nodded, taking off her glasses to rub at her eyes. She was tired.

"I told him I wanted to kill myself," She admitted, raising her glasses up to the florescent light above her head to check for smudges.

"Do you?"

"Yeah, all the time," she slipped her glasses back on her face and yawned. Amata gently touched her girlfriend's shoulder, catching the other's attention. "Come on, let's go back to your place."

 

Gloria grunted in frustration, crumpling up a piece of paper with equations and diagrams scribbled all over it and chucking it at her trashcan. It bounced off the wall and landed next it, and Gloria grew frustrated and threw her pencil too, which also missed its target.

She was about to stomp over to the trashcan and beat the living shit out of it (somehow), when Amata stopped her in her tracks, giggling, "calm down, okay?"

"Sorry," She slumped back into her desk chair and ran a hand through her hair. None of these equations were right, nothing would make her new invention work! Even her "genius mind" couldn't figure this shit out.

"Hey, hey, you can always try again," Amata threaded her fingers through Gloria's and gave her a small peck on to nose. Gloria blushed and shut her eyes. Even if they were alone, this kind of affection always made her flustered.

Amata smiled and leaned against the other, studying the models and equations on the blueprints in front of her, then asked "What is this, anyway?"

"It's an electricity rifle, um... like..." Gloria looked around the floor for a laser pistol she stole from the armory, and when she found it, she made sure it wasn't charged and held it up, as if to display a precious stone to a willing customer.

"Like a laser pistol, except with... electricity."

"What are you going to use it for?" Amata smiled, and Gloria laughed; not in a mocking tone, but out of her own misery, "It's never going to work, but I was hoping that I could use it to... I don't know... leave... the Vault." She said quietly.

"There's nothing outside, Gloria."

She looked away from her girlfriend, sighing, "I know, but anything's better than being stuck underground with people who don't care about me."

"Gloria Louise Hill, don't you ever say that again. I care about you, and so does your dad and Jonas and-"

"I know," She felt guilty that she hurt Amata's feelings, but there was only so much she could do. At the end of the day, Gloria was still depressed, no matter how many times Amata hugged her.

Gloria rubbed her thumb over the back of Amata's hand. Her own hand was cracked and dry from neglect and working with them so much, compared to Amata's hands. They were soft and gentle, and sometimes she used them to stim when she didn't have anything softer to rub her fingers against.

"I'm tired." Gloria mumbled. Amata nodded and led her to her bed, both of them kicking off their shoes and laying down wrapped around each other.

Compared to Gloria, Amata was warm and large and tall and soft and she smelled so, so good. Gloria wished she was too, but she was cursed with a small body and disordered eating habits. She snuggled into Amata's shoulder, letting the other wrap her arms around her and squeeze gently, "You're freezing." Amata whispered. Gloria huffed, "I know."

She could feel Amata smile against her temple, then kiss it gently, "I love you."

Gloria smiled for the first time that day, "I love you too."

 

The next morning, Gloria woke up alone. Amata must have left when she was asleep; not that she would blame her. Her dad would throw a fit if he found out they were dating.

While it wasn't illegal in the Vault, it was strongly urged to procreate and be exclusively heterosexual, both of which Gloria did not want to be.

What made matters worse, Gloria was dating the daughter of the Overseer, the leader of the Vault, so they had to be extra careful to make sure he doesn't find out about them.

She supposed it was because neither of them had any kids yet. Her father was able to do the same thing with Jonas, and wasn't too secretive about it.

It wasn't any of her business, just like her relationship wasn't any of his. She was thankful he didn't mind that she was gay, as sad as it was.

She rubbed her face with her hands a few times to wake herself up. She had to go to work today since she missed the past few days. It was hard getting out of bed every day.

She only ate a few bites of her breakfast while she dreaded having to work with her father today. Their relationship had become strained ever since she started therapy. She'd rather have someone, anyone else as her therapist, but her father was the only doctor in the Vault—well, except for her in a few years.

The walk to the clinic was longer than she was used to, since she didn't have the energy to walk at a regular pace. She considered sneaking off to the reactor room to drink herself into a coma, but she needed alcohol when things got worse than it was now. If things ever did get worse, that is.

Then she considered suicide again, but rolled her eyes at the thought of killing herself over having to go to work. Still, there were sillier things she's wanted to kill herself for.

She took a deep breath before she walked into the clinic. Her father was already inside his office, typing away at him terminal. She cleared her throat to catch his attention.

He quickly shut off the screen and turned to her with a smile, "Good morning, honey."

"Hi." She didn't have the energy to sound half as peppy as he did, even if he looked as tired as she did. He must have stayed at work late again.

He stood up and gestured for her to follow. He led her to the storage closet and put his hands on his hips, "I need you to organize everything in here. Take as long as you need. Please don't... hurt yourself."

Like she'd do anything like that in public. If she had her way, she'd end it in someplace no one would find her—shit, she got distracted again.

"Repeat that." She said softly, "Um, please. Sorry."

Her father gave her a patient smile and continued, "It's been a while since it's been cleaned up in here, I think before my time, so if you find anything useful, I'm sure no one would miss it."

Hm, that was unreasonably nice, even for him. He left her to her organizing, and she watched him greet his first appointment and turned her attention to the mess around her.

The clutter was mostly pieces of scrap metal and a few empty syringes. She was a little afraid there was some weird disease on them, so she emptied another box full of scrap metal and threw the syringes in it.

There was way too much stuff in here. The closet wasn't any bigger than her living room, but the sheer amount of useless trinkets that were lying around was astounding.

The Overseer would have a stroke if he saw how much stuff that was actually useful that was going to waste. Gloria sorted everything into two piles: useful and useless (in her opinion).

It wasn't too difficult to actually put things back into boxes and on shelves, but it was really time consuming.

It was also boring. Usually, she liked organizing things, even if it didn't show with the state of her room and, by extension, herself. She checked the time on her Pip-Boy. 12:32. It had been more than five hours since she had started cleaning. She turned on her personal playlist and sighed. It was a song she didn't like.

Still, she listened to it. It covered the annoying buzz of the lamp and the voices on the other side of the wall. She groaned and sat down on the ground.

Her father was right; no one would miss this junk. She definitely wouldn't miss anything here except—

A few feet away, hidden behind a few boxes and dust, was a taser. Something she definitely needed for a gun or... her electricity rifle.

She pulled the taser out of the crevice it was hidden in and brushed the dust off of its frame, smiling for the first time that day.


	2. Rare Occurrences

Gloria rushed home as soon as her father let her have a break for lunch, almost knocking Amata over in her hurry.

"Woah, hey, what's the rush?" Amata laughed and Gloria caught herself on a metal beam at her side, her hands jittery with excitement and a look in her eyes that gave them life.

Gloria held up the taser after checking to make sure no one else was around, and Amata stepped back on instinct, "I hope you're not going to use than on anyone."

"Geez, you have so much faith in me," Gloria smiled.

Gloria smiled, Amata realized, and her heartrate began to race as she flushed. Shit, she always did blushed when she smiled.

It was a rare occurrence, and everything other than a permanent frown burned into Amata's memory to treasure forever.

She looked beautiful as she grabbed her hand, slightly sweaty and she could feel the other's heartbeat race, too, as Gloria led Amata to her home and set the taser at her desk, locked her bedroom door, and closed the curtains.

"Why do you need a taser anyway? You could get in trouble-"

"I've been busted for less, trust me. I need it to finish the gun I was showing you yesterday," She glanced over her shoulder at Amata, flicking on the desk light and removing her glasses to get a closer look at the taser.

"Hey, so, um... do you want to help me out?"

Amata tried not to blush. The way Gloria's eye shined was something she hadn't seen in a long, long time. "S- sure," She stuttered out.

"Awesome, take a seat," Gloria sat in her desk chair and Amata dragged the extra chair up next to her and sat down.

"Okay, well, give me the screwdriver."

Amata picked up one of the two lying next to each other, giving her girlfriend a confused look, and she laughed, "No, the flat one."

She picked up the other one and handed it to Gloria. Gloria took it out and unscrewed something on it, and a flap opened up.

"Okay, there's a magnifying glass under my bed, can you get it for me?"

Amata nodded, then laid down on the floor to look under her bed.

There were a ton of boxes, so she had to dig through them. She didn't mind too much, but Gloria still apologized about the mess.

They sat in silence while Gloria tinkered with her gun, trying to connect the taser to her already established gun and make actually work. She set the taser down and bit her lip, then pushed her bangs back and leaned back in her chair. Amata looked up from her desk and into her girlfriend's eyes.

"It's been a while since I've... you know... not wanted to—No, never mind. Sorry," She shook her head and continued working, accidentally shocking herself on something, cursing and waving her hand in the air to numb the pain.

"What were you going to say?" Amata knew full well it was something along the lines of "I don't want to kill myself" which was probably a strange and foreign thing for her to think, let alone say. Amata bushed a few strands of Gloria's hair out of her face and brushed the back of her fingers against her acne-covered cheek. Gloria froze from the contact, gripping her pliers tightly and trying not to flinch away.

"Amata," Gloria placed her tools to the side and faced her girlfriend, gulping and biting the inside of her lip, "Do you, um, are you, uh..." She sighed, "Do you really want to be with me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I- I'm me, and you're you! You shouldn't be wasting your time with me-"

Amata placed a finger on Gloria's lips, smiling gently, then cupped her face, "I love you, Gloria. No matter what. Even if you're suicidal, happy, depressed, whatever, I'll always love you."

Gloria's face flushed and her eyes shone with unshed tears, but she was never the one to cry. She blinked them away and relaxed, "I love you too."

Amata's smile widened and she rubbed her thumb over her girlfriend's cheek, wanting nothing more than to kiss her, but she wasn't sure if Gloria did so, she licked her lips and asked "Can I kiss you?"

"Yeah," Gloria smiled and leaned in to kiss her girlfriend, both of them smiling into the kiss.

The kiss didn't last as long as they wanted, but Gloria pulled away, checking her Pip-Boy.

"Fuck, shit, fuck I'm late. Holy shit I am late."

Amata giggled and helped Gloria scramble to get her belongings sorted, and walked her to the clinic, pausing briefly to give her a hug at a respectable distance, and wished her on her way.

Butch DeLoria had gotten into another fight with someone over something. All of his fights were petty brawls to show off courage or let his anger out or whatever bullshit excuse her father was going to give him. Butch wasn't too happy to see that Gloria was the one to patch him up, make sure he wasn't bleeding internally and whatnot.

Stacy Cole held his hand the entire time, staring at Gloria like the way she does. Gloria didn't mind, it was just the way Stacy was.

"So, who fucked you up this time?"

"Officer Taylor." He avoided eye contact and stared at his and Stacy's intertwined hands.

"Holy shit, really? The guy's like ninety," Gloria didn't mean to sound rude, but the mocking tone came out automatically. She shined lights in his eyes to make sure he didn't have a concussion, "What was the brawl about?"

"He got in my way, like you're about to be, Nosebleed."

"Cool it, DeLoria," She dabbed at the cut on his nose that was gushing blood, then she tapped it with a gloved finger and he hissed.

"The fuck was that for?"

"Revenge," She put a bandage on the cut and slapped him on the back, "You're done. Get out of here. If I see you again I'm cutting off your arm."

"Isn't that malpractice?" Stacy asked as she helped Butch up. Gloria smiled and nodded, "I was kidding, sorry about that. I won't cut off his arm." She explained. Stacy laughed as Butch huffed.

Sending Butch and Stacy on their way, Gloria slumped down in her father's desk chair, turning on the terminal and waited for it to boot up. The thing was over 200 years old, so it certainly did take a while. In the meantime, she picked up a familiar orange pill bottle standing a few inches away, running her hand over the worn label.

GLORIA HILL. ESCITALOPHRAM MG TABLETS. TAKE ONE TABLET BY MOUTH EVERY DAY. Do not consume alcoholic beverages while taking this medicine.

She hummed, setting the bottle back on the table, turning it so she doesn't see her name printed in all caps. The most worrying part about this was that she couldn't drink.

Whatever, when has she ever listened to directions?

She needed to get all this frustration out somehow. She was too tired to pick a fight with some random security guard, so the next best thing was shoot targets with her BB gun and pretend they were actual people. Yeah, that could work.

Her father returned with some crackers when he caught her trying to sneak out with her gun and some BB pellets.

"I'm going to practice. I'll be fine."

James sighed and said, "Okay, be careful."

Gloria gave him a slight smile, then headed out into the hall, making sure there were no security guards around.

____

Every time she hit the middle of the target, she would scratch a mark into the crate beside her. This tradition was started when she was twelve, back when she couldn't shoot for the life of her, but over the years she has gotten better.

There was no real reason she should be good at this. She definitely didn't want to become a security guard, and that was the only job she actually needed a steady hand. It could work with medicine, but she knew her dad wouldn't want her to perform any kind of surgery. Not that there were any to be performed.

She lined up the next shot and pulled the trigger, and the target swung in a complete circle.

She turned to scratch another mark into the crate, when she realized Butch was leaning against it, arms crossed and an ever-present smirk on his face.

"Pretty good, Nosebleed."

"Fuck off," She said through gritted teeth. He stared at her with a smug grin. She finally sighed in annoyance and walked over to the crate, picked up the blade resting on top of it, and carved in another scratch. Butch watched her, which made her uncomfortable.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked, and she ignored him again and walked back over to her gun and picked it up, lining up her shot, but before she pulled the trigger, he spoke again.

"No," Gloria stated, taking another shot. She missed, and she huffed in annoyance. Butch hummed, cracking his knuckles, "Fight me, Nosebleed."

"What the fuck, why?" Gloria glanced at him, her aim wavering, but she readjusted the gun and hit the target, barely, and scratched a mark in the crate.

"I just wanna fight." He sounded unsure, voice wavering. It was unusual for him to act this way, so Gloria assumed he needed an adrenaline rush to do whatever he needed to.

She set her gun down, leaning against the crate, and swung at Butch with a closed fist, hitting him right in the mouth. He retaliated with a punch to her cheek, throwing her glasses off her face.

"If you weren't a fucking dumbass," She repeated. He shoved her against the crate and held her in place by her collar.

They threw punches at each other for a while before they were too tired to move.

"Fuck, fine, you win," Butch said touching his split lip and wincing at the pain.

Gloria laughed, "You held your own. Come on, I think my dad's at the clinic."

She swore her dad was supposed to be working alone that night, so why was Jonas with him?

Before Butch darted inside, she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him behind the wall again, peeking her head out to see what was going on.

"What's wrong with you?" Butch whispered, and Gloria put a finger to her lips, then whispered, "I think they're talking shit about me."

He crouched down next to her, peeking over her shoulder, "You're so paranoid."

"Fuck off, I had a rough few days."

She glanced back at Butch, then nodded her head to the window so they could hear them better.

Pressing her ear against the glass, she could barely make out her father giving out a tired laugh, then a sigh, "I don't know Jonas, she doesn't seem like she would understand."

"James, come on," Jonas sounded... off. Not like his usual self, "The Overseer has threatened conversion therapy many times."

What... what the hell were they talking about? She glanced over to Butch who was as confused as she was.

"That doesn't mean she's... you know."

"What?"

"You know."

"You said you saw her kiss Amata, right? That's not completely-"

"Jonas." Her father sounded serious this time, but Jonas laughed nonetheless. "Still, even if Gloria knew about us, what does it matter? She doesn't need to understand."

She looked over at Butch again, who shrugged. Knew about them. What did she need to know about them?

"I'll still love you." She could barely hear her father's words.

"I love you too." Jonas replied.

Well. That's something new.

She turned to Butch who stared wide-eyed at the wall, and Gloria nudged him, "Are you okay?"

"I... Yeah," He said, although he did seem kind of out of it, like he had witnessed a crime or something.

"Holy shit, were you gay for my dad?"

"Fuck off," He pushed her over, and she fell onto the floor. She tried to kick at him but he retaliated and blocked her legs.

"You totally were! Oh my God," She laughed loudly, and then when she realized she shouldn't have been so loud.

"Is someone outside?" Jonas asked. Both Gloria and Butch quickly ducked under the window when Jonas pulled open the curtains, then closed them again. "I swore I heard someone."

Her father stepped up to the window this time, "Gloria, I know you're there. You too, Butch."

They looked at each other before they stood up, turning around to face the others. Her father nodded towards the door, and they slumped over to it, waiting for it to unlock before walking inside.

Jonas looked mortified, and her father scolded them for eavesdropping, but went easy on the stern language because they had obviously been in a fight.

"Hold still," James told Butch as he tried to disinfect his lip, while Jonas only had to hand Gloria a bag of ice to hold against her eye. Butch flinched away from James, but sucked it up and held still long enough for James to dab some disinfectant on his lip and cheek.

"So, how much of that did you hear?" Jonas asked Gloria. She shrugged, "Enough. How long have you been with my dad?"

Jonas sat down in the chair next to her, "Since... you were born."

Gloria stared at him, then at her dad, then back to him, "Really? That long?"

"We've kept it a secret." 17 years was a long time to keep a secret like this.

"I... Yeah, you have. You also mentioned something about con..." She stopped herself from saying it out loud.

"Conversion therapy?"

"Yeah, that."

Jonas leaned back in his chair, sighing, "You better talk to your dad about that one."

"Okay," Gloria mumbled.

When her father finally let Butch go, he and Gloria walked back to their respective houses without a word.

"Why'd you want the shit beaten out of you (again)?" Gloria finally asked. Butch shrugged, "I was restless."

"Usually people'd go for a walk or fuck or whatever."

"Stacy was busy with her work."

Gloria grimaced, "Gross."

He rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets, "Whatever. It's not like I can even go anywhere in this shit hole."

She hummed in thought. He was right...

You were born in the Vault, you die in the Vault. The phrase was repeated over and over until it subconsciously played in your head all hours of the day.

But Gloria never followed the rules, not even a rule like this.


	3. Confessions and Escapes

The transition from depressed sixteen-year old to slightly less depressed nineteen year old was a long, hard journey which resulted in many relapses and suicide scares. But Gloria pulled through, somehow, and finally made it to her nineteenth birthday.

Amata was with her the entire way. Holding her hair back as she threw up, gently rubbing her back as Gloria cried on her shoulder, trying to cheer her up and helping her eat.

It was hard not to fall in love with her. Young love was something so pure and innocent; she never wanted to leave her side.

But she had to do this alone.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Amata asked as they neared the clinic. Gloria avoided her eyes, staring straight ahead at the endless grey hallway, nodding. "He needs to know I'm gay. Even if it ends badly, he needs to."

"Gloria," Amata pulled her arm, then twirled her into a soft hug, "I'll be outside, okay? Good luck."

James was humming an old sea shanty when Gloria walked into his office. She smiled, a bit nostalgic and sang "daddy's gone to sea and now he's gone" to finish the verse.

He looked up from his work and smiled back, "It Came from the Sea. Remember when I used to sing it to you?"

"Yeah, you had a pretty terrible singing voice." She crossed her arms and leaned against his desk, "What're you working on?"

"Oh, nothing," His smile seemed a bit sad, and she wondered what was wrong, "Just cleaning up a bit."

"Is there an inspection tomorrow? Shit I didn't prepare-"

"No, no sweetheart. I wanted to start anew."

Gloria laughed, "That's going to be pretty hard since we're stuck here until we die. Where do the dead bodies even go? Do they throw them outside?"

"I don't know, maybe you'll find out when you're older."

"Is it part of the Vault Physician's job to throw away dead people?"

He chuckled, "No, luckily it's not," He paused, then shut the terminal screen off and turned to face her, "Was there any reason why you wanted to come see me?"

Her face fell. This was it. She was going to tell him.

She had to tell him.

"I..." She looked away from him, taking in a few deep breaths, "I'm..."

"Gloria-"

"I-I'm gay." She stuttered out, grasping at the ends of her sleeves. She sniffled a few times, then furiously wiped at her eyes. "I'm a lesbian, Dad. I'm sorry I don't-"

James stood up and pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the top of her head, "Don't you dare apologize."

She pulled away, staring at the floor and wiped her eyes and nose, "Please don't kick me out of the Vault."

"Gloria Louise Hill, don't you ever say something like that again. I love you, sweetheart, and I would never let that happen."

She wiped her eyes, finally looking up at him. "Thank you, Dad."

He pulled her in for another hug, then ruffled her hair, "Now get to bed, it's a big day tomorrow."

She pulled away and nodded, and before she turned around and said, "See you tomorrow."

He smiled, trying not to cry. He had to leave, and Gloria couldn't come with him. She would be safe here in Vault 101. She had to be.

"James," Jonas snapped him out of his thoughts. It was around three in the morning and he had to leave soon.

"Sorry," He apologized and recoded his message to his daughter, clicking off the holotape recorder and handing it to his boyfriend, "Please watch out for her."

"You know I will," Jonas smiled.

Nightmares weren't a problem anymore, not like they were. But that night, Gloria had one of the worst ones, until Amata interrupted her slumber, eyes frantic and her body stiff.

"What're you-"

"Gloria, you need to get out of here!"

Gloria blinked, "Why?"

"Because... my dad, he-" She paused to let out a sob, wiping tears from her eyes.

Gloria sat up and placed her hands on the other's shoulders, "Amata, take a breath."

"Your dad left and mine... He- he killed Jonas!"

"Jonas is dead...?"

"And you're next if you don't hurry up."

She pulled on a jumpsuit and glasses, trying to understand why he would kill someone.

Her dad was gone. Gone... how?

"My dad's not... you know."

"No, he left the Vault! And my dad is ordering a lockdown. Gloria, he's going to kill you."

She should have expected this.

"I know a way out, but you have to be quick." Amata interrupted her thoughts,

"Not another one of your 'plans', Amata..." She groaned, putting all of the Stimpacks and Med-X from the first aid kit in her bag while Amata continued, "I don't have time to explain everything. You're going to have to trust me this time. Listen. There's a secret tunnel leading directly from my father's office to the exit. You'll have to hack the computer in his office to open it. Use this to get into his office. That's how I always got in." She handed Gloria a key card. She put it in her pocket, then returned to packing up.

Let's see, water, underwear, her newly built electricity rifle, a fixed up power fist, and her BB gun and some pellets. Yeah, sounds good enough.

"What makes you think this tunnel won't be guarded? It could be a trap..."

"We don't have time for this! Trust me, security doesn't know about the tunnel. Just my father -- and me. Maybe this pistol I stole from my father will make you feel better. Go ahead, take it, and then let's get out of here." She pulled out a 10mm pistol, but Gloria pushed it back into Amata's hands.

"No way, you keep it. I don't do guns."

"Well... okay. I guess it may come in handy if I run into any Radroaches." Oh, lovely, a Radroach infestation.

"All right. I'll try to meet you at the exit. Watch out for security. Good luck!" She ran out of Gloria's room, and left her standing there. She finished packing and ran out of the room a few moments later.

"Hey! Stop right there!" A security officer said, but got distracted by a Radroach. She snuck by him and turned the corner and ran down the hall.

After rounding another corner, She ran right into Butch, who looked terrified as he grabbed Gloria's shoulders tightly, making Gloria panic a little bit.

"You gotta help me! My mom's trapped in there with the Radroaches!"

Oh, thank God he only wanted her help, but still she chuckled, "Butch... asking me for help. If only you knew what 'irony' meant." She pulled away from him, but he grabbed her shoulder again.

"Yeah, I'm asking you. So what. Look, I'm sorry for the way I've always treated you. You know I never meant any of it, right?"

"An apology won't make everything better."

"I know, but can you still save my mom? You can't leave her in there with the Radroaches!"

"Why do you need my help, anyway? Afraid of a few Radroaches?" She shoved him away from her.

He looked at the floor, "Well... yeah, so I hate Radroaches. So what? I tried to go back in to help her, I swear I did! But I can't do it! So I'm begging you, please help her. I don't know what I'd do without my mom."

"Fine." Gloria sighed and marched into his house.

"Oh my God, thank you. I didn't know what to do. You're the best." Butch called out after her.

His mom was screaming and trying to hit all the Radroaches with an empty bottle of whiskey, and Gloria swooped in and stomped on all of them. Easy-peasy.

She quickly scanned Mrs. DeLoria as Butch returned and hugged her tightly, nearly crushing her, "We did it! My mom's gonna be okay! You're the best friend I've ever had, man! Hey, I know it isn't much, but I want you to have my Tunnel Snakes jacket," he slipped it off and handed it to her, "Go ahead, take it."

She took it and stuffed it into her bag, looking a little confused, "Um, thanks," She said, then jogged back into the hall and glanced back at Butch, who was trying to comfort his mom.

She shook her head and continued on.

With minimal confrontation, Gloria was starting to wonder if every security officer was taking a break or something, when she happened upon Amata being questioned by Officer Mack and her father. She crouched down so they couldn't see her.

"Gloria's my friend. I was worried about her. What does she have to do with any of this anyway?" Amata sounded like she was crying.

"Probably nothing, which is why you need to tell me where she is, so I can talk to her." The Overseer said.

Amata pulled out a gun, and Officer Mack pulled out his police baton, holding it in front of the Overseer, "Watch it sir! She's got a gun!"

"Amata! Where did you get that gun?" The Overseer yelled.

She backed up against the wall, still pointing the gun at the two, "Get away from me! I don't want to shoot you but I will. I swear I will!"

"How dare you threaten me?! And with my own gun! I'm your father, damn you, and you'll show me some respect!" The Overseer said, then turned to Mack, "Don't just stand there!"

"Don't make me take that gun away from you, girlie. Hand it over nice and easy now." Mack said, walking closer to Amata. She seemed to panic and shot Mack, then gasped.

"Amata!" the Overseer yelled. She ran out of the room and into her apartment, not noticing Gloria crouched against the wall.

Well, shit, that was anticlimactic. Gloria stood up and carefully walked into the interrogation room, and when the Overseer saw her, he looked downright murderous.

"I hope you're here to turn yourself in, young lady. You're already in enough trouble as it is. Don't make it worse for yourself." He crossed his arms.

Gloria sneered at him, hand tracing the metals of her rifle, "If you ever lay a hand on Amata again, I'll make you regret it," She tried to threaten him. It didn't help she was more than a foot shorter than him.

"I place the good of the Vault above everything, even my paternal feelings. We must not allow sentiment to cloud our judgment! But I admire your protective instincts—Very well. I give you my word, Amata will not suffer further because of your actions."

She wished he would stop blabbing, but he continued, edging on her aggression. "If you really care about Amata, you will see how dangerous your father's actions were. Hand over your weapons, and put an end to this dangerous situation. There's not need to join your father as a traitor to the Vault."

"No, you give me the password, and then I'll be going."

"Oh, is that all? Is there anything else I can get you while you're here?" He said sarcastically, "You'll get nothing from me. I'll die before I see the safety of the Vault compromised again."

She sighed, then smacked the Overseer in the head with her gun. He stumbled over, gripping his head and grunting in pain while Gloria shoved him into the wall behind him and stole the password and key right out of his pocket. She kicked him for good measure, then walked out into the other room, locking the door behind her.

Amata was sitting on her bed with her head in her hands. She didn't look at up at Gloria when she arrived. "Oh my God. I had no idea my father would... I had no choice. Officer Mack, he..." She sobbed. She wiped her eyes and pushed the 10mm in Gloria's hands. "Here. Take it. I don't want it any more. I don't know what I'd do if I still had the gun and my father came looking for me."

"I'm sorry I didn't know that would happen-"

"Maybe it would have been better if you'd taken it in the first place. I don't know," She finally looked Gloria in the eyes, "You'd better get out of here. I'll try to meet you at the Vault door. If I don't make it... good luck."

Gloria gave her a half-smile, then ran out into the Overseer's office. She typed in the terminal password, and the entrance to the tunnel appeared under the desk. She ran into it, pausing to stomp on the Radroaches crawling along the floor, and stopped at the Vault door.

With adrenaline running through her veins, she pulled the leaver to activate the door, and it slid out and rolled out of the way with a metallic screech, and Amata ran in next to her. "You did it!! You opened the door! My God, I almost didn't believe it was possible."

"Well, when I say I'm going to do something, I do it."

"You're right, I should have never doubted you!" Amata threw her arms around Gloria, and she smiled and returned the hug.

"Goodbye, Amata." She whispered.

She pulled away, her arms still around the other's neck, "Goodbye, Gloria. Listen, if you do catch up with your dad, tell him I'm sorry. For... you know, Jonas, and my father, and everything."

Amata leaned in and kissed Gloria gently on the lips.

Gloria pulled away and blushed, a small smile on her face.

"Sorry, I-" Amata began, and Gloria interrupted her with another kiss.

"It's okay. Be safe, Amata."

"Gloria-" She was cut off by security guards banging on the door behind them, "I love you."

Gloria smiled, kissing her one last time, "I love you, too."

She pulled away, taking a deep breath and stepping onto the dirt outside. The door slid back into place as she waved back at Amata, then screeched closed.

This was it. She was out of the Vault.

She turned back around to face the end of the cavern, a flimsy wooden door blocking her from the world outside.

She stepped up to the door, pausing before slipping a small pocket knife out from her backpack and ran the blade through her hair, the golden locks fluttering to the ground around her.

She opened the door into a new beginning.


	4. New Life

She blinked her eyes open, still sensitive to the light, and used her hands as shade to look out over the Wasteland.

It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust, but the first sight she saw was of a ruined town down the hill, the Capitol Building, and Washington Monument.

It smelled weird. But the air felt fresher and not laced with cleaning chemicals like in the Vault.

Outside. She was outside. In the open where there was radiation and monsters and cannibals and—

It was hot. She checked her Pip-Boy for the temperature, but it had to take a moment to adjust to the heat.

The wind, dust, sounds, smells, sights, everything was so different.

It felt like she was dreaming.

Maybe this was a dream. Maybe all of this was a dream.

She would wake up, seventeen years old again with an empty stomach and a death wish.

Or maybe now she really had a death wish.

It didn't matter, she had no time to lose. She carefully made her way down to the ruined town, Springville, and into a town called Megaton.

The air blew her freshly chopped-off hair onto the left side of her face, and she tried her best to put back into place as she made her way to Megaton, as indicated on a large sign with an arrow pointing to the settlement. Gloria marked its location on her Pip-Boy and headed on inside, casting an untrusting glance at the robot... thing outside the gates.

The mayor greeted her, explaining how the town was built around an atomic bomb, worshiped by a group of people, and Gloria definitely wondered if she was dreaming.

But she wasn't. The metal railing up to the second story of the town was hot to the touch, burning her skin more than a normal wastelander's.

The town was made entirely of broken down buses, planes, scrap metal and a whole lot of duct tape. It was a wonder it hadn't fallen apart yet. Gloria's fingers traveled over the railing to a large building, then a doorknob she turned and pushed the door open.

A woman in a utility jumpsuit was humming to herself while a man in leather armor eyed Gloria carefully. She assumed he was her bodyguard? But what would she need one for?

"Welcome to Craterside Supply!" The woman chirped, startling Gloria. She blinked a couple of times before asking "What?"

"Oh! You must be that kid from the Vault!" She had a strange look in here eye, and Gloria wasn't sure if she wanted to continue this conversation or not.

"Yeah, I am... why do you ask?" She asked slowly. The woman giggled, which was way too cute for a woman in her late 20s.

"What was it like?"

Well... It was her home. What else could she say about it? "It was kinda dark."

"That's it?"

"It... was cramped?"

"Go on," the woman tapped a pen against some paper in front of her, eyes gleaming in childlike delight.

"I don't know. It was home I guess. Sort of wanted to make me-" She couldn't finish her sentence. The woman sensed her discomfort and stopped pressing the issue, then wrote what she needed on the paper and slipped it under the counter.

"What's your name?"

"Gloria. Hill. Gloria Hill." She stuttered out, and the woman held out her hand. Gloria stared at it, and the woman laughed. "You're supposed to shake it. My name is Moira Brown."

Gloria cautiously took the other's hand, giving it a few up and down swings, then let go, more uncomfortable than she was before. Why did people outside do this?

"They didn't teach you that in the Vault?" Moira asked, catching Gloria's attention again. She shook her head, then added, "We didn't focus on social aspects in the Vault. Only things that would 'help the betterment of the Vault' or something."

Moira gave her a sympathetic smile, then her eyes lit up again, "Oh! I know! How about you help me with something. I'm writing a book to help 'the betterment of the wasteland!' I can't do it alone, of course, but you can help me!"

Wow that was... sudden. But she couldn't; she had to find her dad.

Her frown caused Moira to worry, and she tried to help her out as best she could. As thanks for telling her about the Vault, Moira gave her a modified Vault 101 jumpsuit to help her survive a little more in the Wasteland. Gloria tried to reject this gift, as it was the polite thing to do, but thankfully Moira insisted she keep it.

She then pointed Gloria to the bar at the top of the settlement, run by a man named Moriarty, then wished her luck as she was on her way.

Colin Moriarty had introduced himself before Gloria could ask where to find him. He gave her some bad vibes and she only wanted to know where her father was. But when she asked him, his expression changed like he realized something, which concerned Gloria even more.

"My God... It's you. The little baby girl, all grown up. Persistent little flower, ain't ya? Then and now, it would seem. It's been a long time, kid." Moriarty crossed his arms, looking a little too smug for Gloria's liking, "Oh, your daddy passed through here all right. Here and gone. Got what he came for, and then left. I'm assuming you'll do the same, correct?"

Gloria sighed. She knew when the Overseer was her age, they Vault was opened again for the first time since the bombs fell. They had multiple expeditions outside and collected data, kept hidden from the younger generations. She only found out because she was curious at heart.

But what she didn't understand is why Moriarty seemed to know her and her father.

"I'm pretty sure my dad and I were born in the Vault. I mean... why would he lie to me?" She trusted him. She told him she was gay and suicidal and she wouldn't have done if she didn't trust him. So why would he not trust her?

Moriarty leaned against the wall behind him, "Ah, I see. You know, I heard about the brainwashin' that goes on down there. From the other fella, escaped, oh... five years back. 'All hail the Overseer! We're born in the Vault, we die in the Vault!' and all that other assorted lunacy. Kid, you've got better programming that our own Deputy Weld. You'd best wise up quick. Wouldn't want anyone... takin' advantage of 'ya, Hmm?"

Gloria wasn't sure what he was talking about, but only annoyed her further. She rubbed her temples in an attempt to get rid of her budding headache.

"Look, I want to find my dad. Do you know where he is?"

"You seem like a nice kid, so I'm going to be straight with you. Yes, I know where he went, but what you're asking me for is information, and information is a commodity. Let's say... 100 caps, and daddy's location is yours. Very reasonable."

"A hundred what?"

"Bottle caps, you know, money."

Ah. That's what they must use for currency. Her strong suit was science, not economics. Or whatever this was.

"Well, I don't have any of those."

"Then you better go make some."

"All right, kid. Let me help you out, you know... for old time's sake. Maybe you can so a little favor for me."

"So you want me to do your dirty work?" Gloria raised an eyebrow.

"Who said anything about dirty work? You need some caps, and I'm giving you a way to get 'em. It's just business."

She reluctantly agreed. What could possibly go wrong?

...

A lot of things went wrong.

She wasn't new to breaking and entering, which she'd gotten a lot of jail time for. But this was the outside world where people had guns and Silver had one pointed right at her face.

"Tell Moriarty those caps are mine."

"I would if you'd get that gun out of my face," Gloria offered, but Silver shoved it closer. Well. This wasn't going to end well.

"What are you waiting for? He sent you to kill here didn't he?"

"What in fuck's name are you talking about? Obviously he didn't." Gloria nudged the gun away from her, and gave her a confused look, "Why would he try to kill you?"

"That's none of your business."

"Look, I don't care what your problem is, I'm here for the caps."

"Is there something wrong with your hearing? I told you the caps are mine! You can't have them!"

"Okay, whatever." Gloria knocked the gun out of Silver's and punched her in the side of her head. She searched Silver's body for the caps while she was retaliating, and almost didn't dodge a punch aimed for her face. She kneed Silver in the stomach and elbowed her ribs and fled out the door.

When she returned to Moriarty, she shoved the small bag into his hands and glared at him.

"Here's your caps, I hope you choke on them." She sneered.

"How can you be so rude when I'm going to provide you with such a useful public service?"

She rolled her eyes while he jabbered on about her dad not staying in Megaton long for like the third time, then mentioned he was headed to Galaxy News Radio. Whatever the hell that was. He explained it was in the D.C. ruins and is run by a guy named Three Dog. She didn't thank him for his information, and left without saying anything else.

For the remainder of the day, she wandered around the city, and eventually ended up at the bottom of the crater, where a seemingly live atomic bomb was nestled in a pool of water and a preacher standing in it.

She hummed and gently touched the bomb, her fingers finding a small hatch she pried open with a screwdriver, rubbing her chin as she studied the "off" button, before pressing it and hoping it doesn't explode.

It didn't.

She was awarded a house and 100 caps by the mayor. Which was honestly kind of weird but she wouldn't complain.

She wandered into her new house after she was done exploring, sitting down on the ratty couch by the door and sighing.

Megaton wasn't as bad as she originally thought. There were some nice people around, except for that Jericho guy. He was kind of an asshole. She'd gotten a few odd jobs here and there, but she didn't have time. She had to find her father.

She felt like throwing up again. She need a distraction.

Repairing her jumpsuit seemed to calm her nerves, but she still felt a tiny piece of her that wanted to throw three years of hard work into the nearest toilet.

No, no, she couldn't. She promised she'd never do it again.

She pulled everything out of her bag, and her hands smoothed over a wallet-sized picture of Amata she never knew she had.

The photo was recent, taken in the last two weeks. She was smiling, laughing at a joke Gloria made. The memory made her heart ache; would she ever see her again?

She placed the picture onto the empty space on her Pip-Boy under the logo, and secured it with tape. Her eyes drifted onto the screen, where a holotape was loaded and ready to play. She hadn't noticed it.

She ejected it and read the title.

Note From Dad

Oh.

She should have listened to it sooner. She placed it back into the cartridge and pressed play.

"Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first. I... I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know. So many things could have gone wrong and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe someday things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going."

Jonas spoke, "Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with."

"Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye, Gloria. I love you."

The recording ended, and the tape was ejected from her Pip-Boy. She placed it in a drawer and made sure to never look at it again.

Resting her chin on her hands, she stared through the holes in the wall to the world outside.

It was darker than she would be used to. Louder too.

She ran her hands through her hair, still unused to it being so short.

Everything changed so quickly; nothing would ever be the same.


	5. Not Now, Not Ever

Things usually got better with time. Unfortunately for Gloria, this was something that needed to get better now.

It was Moira who gave Gloria her first mission: find food and medicine in a Super Duper Mart. She took the job because, honestly, Moira was cute and she needed the caps.

And now here she is, hiding behind a counter, clutching her electricity rifle for dear life and hoping that the raiders on the other side would just leave. Leave and never come back.

She was on the verge of tears, confusion and fear filling her mind while she tried her best to keep her breathing under control.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" The raider sang, too close for comfort. Gloria gulped, and took a deep breath and held it.

Option one was to fight with the limited ranged skills she had. Option two was to beat every raider in this God forsaken store to a bloody pulp and emerge victorious and alive. Option three was to make a run for it.

It wasn't like her to run away from a fight. Retreat meant weakness, and she couldn't be weak. Not now, not ever.

She heard footsteps over the pounding in her chest resonating in her ears. They were close - too close.

"Time's up, princess," A low voice sounded, and she felt something metal press against the back of her head.

She froze. Disregarding her previous morals, her first instinct was to run—but retreat was unheard of. So the next instinct was to fight.

She whipped around, and the raider pulled the trigger, hitting Gloria in the arm. In an adrenaline-filled rage, she kicked the gun out of his hands and punching him in the jaw and slammed his head into the counter as hard as she could.

There were more raiders closing in, so with her unharmed arm, Gloria picked up her electricity rifle and shot blindly all around her.

When it beeped, indicating that there wasn't any ammo left, she ducked behind the counter again and reloaded with a shaky hand, and stood up again, ready to shoot anything that moved.

And there was nothing.

With a sigh of relief, she slid back onto the floor, pressing her hand against the wound on her arm.

Even under the instruction of her father, the only doctor she's ever known, she never learned how to treat bullet wounds. There was no need. The worst wound she's ever had to fix was when Wally made her fix his broken nose after a particularly nasty fight they got into; granted it was her who broke his nose, so she tried to make him even uglier.

She was starting to doubt herself now. She thought she'd make it out here with her skill in beating up security guards only armed with batons and, but these people had guns. And bullets fucking hurt.

Still, this was nothing compared to what she had done to herself.

Sighing out of annoyance more than anything, Gloria stood up and searched through every safe and cabinet in the entire store and found everything Moira wanted, and finally left this hellhole.

Moira was happy to know that there was food and medicine in the store, and even let Gloria keep it as payment, along with some caps. It wasn't enough compensation for what she had to go through, but it was as good as she was going to get.

After a trip to the clinic, Gloria felt as good as new... well, not new, but kind of worn out and really pissed off.

She was wasting time going off and fighting raiders and getting things for people. She needed to find her dad.

When she finally arrived back at her house in Megaton, she closed the door behind her and sighed. She wanted to go back to the Vault, back where she wasn't being shot at, where she didn't have to pay for food, someplace she actually knew.

Her "dream" to go outside was ridiculous. There was nothing outside, nothing she needed or wanted.

But it's too late to go back now. She's made it this far, and she can't go back without her dad.

Wherever the fuck he was.

She ignored her growing urge to throw up, and headed upstairs to go to bed. She had a long day tomorrow.

She fell asleep to the humming of the fridge and the sound of crickets outside; some things she never wanted to get used to.

___

She assumed the underground tunnels throughout the wasteland were subway stations. She also wished they worked. But the metro wasn't too bad; nothing Gloria couldn't handle. It took a while, but she made it out to Chevy Chase station easily enough, with only a few minor wounds and bruises.

She was tired, hungry and thirsty when she reached daylight again. There was no time to rest, she really needed to find Three Dog. She hid behind a cement wall to look around for danger.

Nothing.

She readjusted her rifle on her back and stood up straight, and suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder.

She staggered, and immediately raised her hand to the wound. Who- or what- the hell hit her?

She ducked down behind the wall again and looked around, more closely. It was hard to see in the fading light, but she noted two large silhouettes walking towards her. She gulped, unsure of what to do. She dug out a Stimpack from her bag and injected it into her shoulder, then pulled the rifle off her back. She reloaded, then took aim.

Before she was going to pull the trigger, another gunshot sounded, and one of the figures fell down, its head blown right off. The other one whipped around, but was also shot in the head.

Three human-ish-sized figures were walking out from behind the ruins, one congratulating another person named Reddin.

A blonde woman approached her, looking a little annoyed.

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you don't belong here. The Super Mutants have overrun our brothers at the Galaxy News Radio building, and we're headed there to back them up. You can tag along if you want. But keep your head down and try not to do anything... stupid."

"Wait... who the hell are you people?" Gloria asked, a little surprised that this woman was giving information out so freely. Was everyone in the Wasteland like this?

"I'm Sentinel Lyons of the Lyons' Pride. With the Brotherhood of Steel. Don't worry, we're on your side. At least I hope."

"And you mentioned something about GNR?"

"There aren't a lot of safe places in the ruins right now, but the Galaxy News Radio building is sort of out port in the storm. Unfortunately, the building's been hit pretty hard lately. We're their backup. So if there are no more questions, we really need to move out."

Gloria nodded and followed the three Brotherhood members through the ruins, holding her own against the Super Mutants, until they got to the GNR building. There were a lot of Mutants, so Gloria picked them off from a distance. After all the Mutants were killed, Reddin decided to investigate a little more, which was a dumbass idea, since a Super Mutant Behemoth crashed through there and killed her.

The Behemoth seemed to be running straight towards Gloria, so she screamed and ran around, shooting at it, trying to take it down (gracefully, of course). The other Brotherhood members all fought at a distance.

Eventually, Gloria took it down. It had gotten her a few times. Her arm felt like it was going to fall off, but she would manage. Sentinel Lyons patted her on the shoulder, "I guess it's my turn to thank you. Anyway, the area's secure, so you're free to talk to Three Dog if you need to."

Gloria thanked her with a side-smile, then walked into the building.

The area Three Dog lived in was a mess. She could tell right as she opened the door. Though, she felt a little safer here.

She walked up the stairs, where a man waited for her. She assumed it was Three Dog himself.

"The look on your face says it all. You're wondering who the heck this guy is and why you should care. Well, prepare to be enlightened. I am Three Dog -- jokey of discs and teller of truths. Lord and master over the finest radio station to grace the Wastes -- Galaxy News Radio. And you, well... I know who you are Miss Hill. Heard about you leavin' that Vault, travelin' the unknown. Just like dear old dad, hmm? Met him already..."

"What's with the flashy introduction?" Gloria snorted.

"Hey, when you're in the Good Fight, you gotta give it all you got and never, ever hold back. Always dazzle 'em, I always say. Always dazzle 'em and spread the word."

"Okay, well, I'm just looking for my dad," She said, really confused. Like, seriously, what the hell was he talking about?

"Hey, not everyone's cut out for bigger and better things. Sometimes the smallest roles in the good fight are the most important. But enough of that. If it's your dad you seek, then I will abide."

"Just, please tell me."

"He was here, at Galaxy News. We had a great conversation. He's a real stand-up guy. If you want to know more, you're going to have to contribute to the Good Fight."

"C'mon, Three Dog. My dad's gone and I really need to find him."

It was almost too easy to convince him.

Her father went to Rivet City to meet with someone named Madison Li to work on Project Purity. Neither she nor Three Dog knew what that was, so that meant she had to ask him herself.

As she exited into the plaza, Sarah Lyons took off her helmet and clamped Gloria on the back, "Thanks again for your help, it was really appreciated."

Gloria gulped, feeling a bit giddy. She shrugged and tried to play it cool, "You know. Just doing my job."

"Three Dog's called you the Lone Wanderer. Guess that makes sense since, well, you're alone. You want some company?"

"Huh, guess I didn't really notice. And it's fine; I can handle myself," she paused, looking Sarah in the eyes, "What else has he said about me?"

"You're too short to be James' kid."

Well, he wasn't wrong about that.

"So, uh, how about you and me take a walk?" Sarah asked, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. Gloria shrugged, mumbling out "sure, whatever," and followed her into the ruins.

She nudged Sarah away, glancing at the doorway of some abandoned shack then decided to spend the in, and whispered, "Hey, wake up."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm up," Sarah pulled herself into a sitting position, sighing and rubbing her hands through her hair. She used the hair tie around her wrist to pull it back into a ponytail and then turned to Gloria, who smiled at her with her teeth bared in an almost creepy way, but she paid no mind to it.

"What time is it?"

Gloria slid her glasses onto her face and checked her Pip-Boy, "ten to nine. We're fine."

"Shit," Sarah cursed and pulled on her underwear, then her jumpsuit, "God fucking damn it."

"What's the matter?"

"I had to be back at the plaza before anyone noticed I was gone. Fuck, they're going to think I deserted them and-"

"Woah, hey, calm down. They know that you're okay."

"How?"

"...You're right, they don't know. Let's go."

After gathering up their belongings, they headed back to the GNR plaza in an awkward silence, before Sarah spoke up, "Hey... I have a question."

"What is it?" Gloria asked, fiddling around on her Pip-Boy before looking up at Sarah, lowering her wrist at the other's furrowed brows. "Woah, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was just... wondering... I mean since you're gay I was just-"

"I have a girlfriend," She interrupted the other, and Sarah sputtered, "What? No! That's not what I was going to- You know what, I was wondering how you knew you were gay. I just..." Sarah looked down at the laser rifle in her hands, "I don't know how to handle it. These feelings, I mean. I'm not sure they're appropriate."

Gloria stopped for a second, her voice catching in her throat. She knew exactly how that felt.

"You don't. It hit me one day and then I just rolled with it. It's different for everyone. You're going to be okay," she offered. She knew it wasn't much, but she was never good at comforting other people.

Sarah glanced back at her, smiling, "Thanks, Gloria."

Gloria had no clue if that actually helped, but she hoped it did.


	6. Unknown Territory

"So, how do you feel?" Moira asked, chipper as ever, even when Gloria felt like she was going to burn a hole through the thin metal under her feet.

"Just fucking cure me or I'll fucking kill you," Gloria gritted through her teeth before throwing up the contents of her stomach.

"I see you've gone above and beyond with the radiation. I only asked for 200 RADs, you know."

A glance to her geiger counter, and Gloria realized that she was at 876 RADs. Moira giggled, for some reason, and pulled Gloria into the back of the shop, where she sat the Vaultie down on her bed and took her tests.

Gloria had passed out sometime between then and waking up on Moira's bed, and silently thanked whatever merciful God was watching over her that she didn't feel like throwing up.

She sat up and checked her geiger counter again, and sighed in relief when it was at zero RADs, and then stood up and walked into the store.

Moira was humming along with the radio, tinkering away at some device that Gloria knew wouldn't work unless she gave it batteries, and she smiled at Gloria when she cleared her throat.

"How are you feeling?" She sounded almost calm, not as energetic as usual. Gloria shrugged and said "I feel the same as usual."

"Well, that's good enough," Moira put down her screwdriver. "Listen... there was a problem. Nothing too serious just... a little tiny... mutation."

Well, the merciful God certainly wasn't as merciful as Gloria thought.

"All right, what is it?" She should have been mad, but for some reason, she couldn't get mad at Moira. It would have felt like she was kicking a kitten, if they still were around.

"You heal faster the more irradiated you are."

"Oh, well, that's not so bad. I thought you were going to tell me that I had another hand or something."

Moira laughed, "No, silly! That's just ridiculous! Your offspring would have another hand, not you!"

"Right," Gloria walked to the counter and leaned against it, "So, what's next?"

Moira pushed her project aside and leaned her arms against the counter in front of Gloria, "I need you to get some mines from a town called Minefield."

"Oh," Gloria sighed.

"All you need to do is go into the center of town and bring back a mine for me to look at."

"All right, cool," Gloria opened the map on her Pip-Boy and Moira marked its location, and Gloria turned around to leave, when she realized that she didn't have her gun on her.

"Where's my electric rifle?" She asked suspiciously, and Moira hummed in thought, then her face lit up, "Oh! I took it from you when I did your tests," She looked under the counter, then pulled it out and set it on top.

Gloria took it and slung it over her shoulder.

____

It was when Gloria woke up in yet another unfamiliar building with someone sleeping by her side she truly knew she was in unknown territory. And what's worse, is she had no idea where her clothes were. Not even her underwear.

With this newfound realization, she tried to remember what got her into this predicament.

She was on her way to Rivet City when she got a message on her Pip-Boy advertising a boat ride to a place called Point Lookout. She wasn't usually a curious person, but this piqued her interest.

A month on a boat, and there she was. Swamp and inbreds as far as the eye could see.

She can now vaguely remember a ghoul yelling at her and then she got really high and then she woke up with no hair and a large scar on her head. Some more shit happened to her, she was almost blown to pieces, and she had a casual conversation with a floating brain. Nothing out of the ordinary.

And as it turns out, during her stumbling around the swamp, high as a kite, she had a part of her brain removed by none other than the man who invited her to the swamp in the first place. She had her revenge, and a piece of her brain is now on a shelf in a jar at home, next to her other trinkets and collectables from around the Wasteland.

When she returned to Megaton, she went straight to Craterside Supply, and Moira almost tackled her in a hug, and then told her she looked better without hair.

She knew her dad would throw a fit, though. The thought made her smile.

Then it hit her. Her dad was still missing. She had been gone a month on a boat to some swamp and she completely forgot about her poor dad.

When she set off next time, she was distracted yet again by a message from the Brotherhood Outcasts. They needed her for a simulation, which she hesitantly agreed to. It was boring and she was glad she wasn't in Alaska right now.

On her third try to go to Rivet City, a radio broadcast got her attention, and the next thing she knew, she was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Well, what used to be Pittsburgh. It was called The Pitt now, and it was the perfect description of Hell.

Through a drunken stupor, she had teamed up with a group of slaves to help get a cure for their disease. Easy enough, Gloria was good at fetching quests. But this wasn't like any other quest.

She had to gain the attention of the slave master, a man whose name she forgot long ago, and fought for glory. One of the guards joked her name was meant for her. She was too drunk to understand what he meant.

What the slaves didn't tell her was the cure was actually a baby. The slave master's baby.

Through it all, she had managed to smuggle enough vodka into The Pitt to be brave enough to steal a baby, evade raiders and monsters, and deliver the baby without harm. Somehow.

She almost cried when she returned to the D.C. Wasteland.

On her third trip back to Megaton, she had paid a visit to her new best friend, Moira Brown.

And somehow, a "You stole a baby?!" turned into "Wakey-wakey sleepy head!"

Gloria's head was pounding, and looked way too happy this early in the morning.

"What was that?" Gloria mumbled, rubbing her eyes. She felt around on the table next to her for her glasses and slipped them onto her face.

"You passed out while talking about your trip, so I let you sleep over. I have to open shop soon, but you can stay here if you want to take another nap," Moira gently smiled. Gloria sighed and sat up, deciding to get out of bed and go back home. She needed to eat and take a shower and... clean her house. Oh, how she hated cleaning.

She waved at Moira as she left the store and went home.

It was a little sad to return to an empty house for some reason. Even if Gloria liked her solitude, she missed having someone to come home to, even if it was only her dad.

Sighing, she slumped on the couch and rubbed her eyes, her glasses now resting uncomfortably on her head.

The radio was buzzing a song she didn't particularly like, making her head ache more and her temper rise.

Shit, her dad. He probably wasn't even alive any more...

No! No, she can't think like that!

She most definitely growled at herself and punched the wall next to her. She had to find Dad. Now.

Stomping into Moriarty's Saloon, she took a moment to look around and then walked to the bar, when Gob smiled and said, "Well if it isn't the Lone Wanderer herself."

"Give me all the vodka you have. None of that weak shit," Gloria said forcefully, and Gob shrugged, getting the things she requested. She paid and left, putting six bottles in her backpack, hoping they wouldn't break on her way to Rivet City. She winked at Nova on her way out, who rolled her eyes in disgust. One day Gloria would seduce her.

No distractions this time, no side missions, nothing. Just get to Rivet City and ask about Dad.

She successfully made it in under a day, and she was alive. The chief of security, Harkness, gave her the creeps for some reason, but she ignored the feeling when she opened the door to the stairwell, Harkness had told her Li was in the science lab.

It was tricky finding it. She had to map out where everything was manually on her Pip-Boy, and security guards kept stopping her to ask her if she's seen any troublemakers. She was a troublemaker... she sure looked like one anyway.

She finally found it after mapping out literally the entire ship.

She approached Dr. Li, who was hunched over a table, looking very grumpy. Gloria decided against her better judgment to leave her alone, and tapped her gently on the shoulder.

"Look, this is a restricted area. I'm tired of telling you people-" Li froze when she turned around and saw Gloria.

Sure, Gloria had recently shaved her head (not her own decision, of course) and she looked a little worse for wear, but she didn't know what was so shocking about her.

"I... It's you. My heavens, you look so much like him... You're James' daughter, aren't you? What are you doing here?"

What? Has her father been here before? (She hoped she didn't look too much like her dad.) "You know my father? Have you seen him?"

"Well yes, of course I do. Don't you know who I am? I suppose James never told you. Typical," She said, a slight hint of bitterness in her tone, "I am Doctor Madison Li. I worked with your father many years ago. Your mother as well, in fact. You'll have to forgive me, this has all been very stressful, what with your father suddenly showing up here after being gone for so long. You have to understand that I... We put all that behind us. Project Purity, our work, all of it. We've moved on, ever if your father hasn't."

"Right," Gloria said slowly, looking Madison up and down. She was attractive for an older lady, very professional looking if she did say so herself. Nothing too interesting about her appearance, so Gloria continued, "I'm trying to find him, have you seen him?"

"You mean you haven't? I assumed he sent you here. For that matter, aren't you supposed to be in a Vault? James said he left you there."

"Fuck the Vault, I'm not staying in that shithole," Gloria spat.

"I see. So you decided to leave one of the safest places in the Wasteland, even though it was in your best interest to stay. Sounds familiar. Well I'm afraid you father is no longer here."

"The Vault is far from safe, by the way. Just... never mind. Could you please tell me where he's gone?"

"Your father insisted we return to work on Project Purity. I tried telling him too much time has passed; there's no way it would work. Predictably, he refused to listen to me. He says he can prove it will work and headed off to the old lab. I'm sorry, I don't know what else to tell you."

"Okay, then where's the old lab?"

"It's in the old Jefferson Memorial Building, northwest of here. Please don't go after him. It was foolish of him to even think about going there alone."

___

After shooting the last Super Mutant currently sprinting towards her with a sledgehammer, she rubbed her hand over her scalp. This was frustrating. Usually she could keep her anger under control, but she's been on edge lately. She readjusted her bandana on her forehead and marched right into the rotunda.

She shot the remaining Super Mutants, and looked around. There was a huge tank of water in the middle of the room with a bunch of tech around it; this was probably the project her dad was working on. She walked up the stairs, and noticed three holotapes on some weird device.

She loaded them in her Pip-Boy and played the first two. It was her father rambling on about the project. He mentioned something about some scientist named Stanislaus Braun and something called the G.E.C.K. She loaded the last one.

"I'm off to Vault 112 to search for anything of Braun's that might help me get this purifier up and running. All I know is that it's West of some place called Evergreen Mills, and it's well hidden in some sort of garage. But I'll find it, I have to. It's so close, but that's the story of Project Purity, isn't it? An eternity of 'almost there's'. Let's see if Braun has the missing puzzle piece."

She's been to Evergreen Mills before. Well, she wiped out all the raiders there, so she knew where it was. It was really fucking far away from here, but she's so close to finding Dad...

___

It took about two days with no sleep or rest, and she finally made it to the Vault.

It wasn't anything like 101. It had simulation pods in it to keep the residents safe, and she felt like this was how she was going to find her Dad.

After she was loaded into the simulation, she felt different. She felt small—smaller than already she was, anyway.

Braun, the scientist behind the simulation and most other Vault-Tec inventions, told her if she did what he wanted, he would answer her questions. First was to make some kid cry. It was easy enough; a punch to the jaw could make anyone cry.

Next was to break up a marriage. Okay, that was also easy to do. Kind of mean, but she supposed making some random kid cry was mean too.

Then she needed to kill some lady in a creative way. She rigged her oven to explode, then Gloria asked the woman to bake her a pie.

When she was done, she was to become some old myth and kill all the residents of Vault 112. They would come back to life anyway, which was why she didn't feel too guilty.

Braun let her leave, and she exited the simulation.

She didn't know what to feel as she saw her dad walking toward her. She hopped off the simulation pod and stumbled, but she regained her balance.

She felt like she was dreaming, but it was probably from being in the simulation.

Her dad was the one to hug her tightly, and she stood there, shocked. She didn't know what she should feel.

"Gloria, you've saved me. I was afraid I'd be trapped in there forever. It's so good to see you but... What are you doing here?"

Gloria decided she would be angry.

"What are you doing here? You could've been killed!" She yelled.

"Well, I didn't expect Dr. Braun to be alive and insane. I thought I'd just find notes, or holotapes. I needed information about Braun, and his work on the G.E.C.K."

"And did you get it?"

"I did indeed. The G.E.C.K. was designed to re-adapt environments for living after a nuclear war. It's not entirely stable, but I'm sure that components of that technology are just what we need, what we've been missing all this time. I need to return to Rivet City. Once Madison knows about the G.E.C.K., I can get her to see that it really will work."

"What about me? What am I supposed to do?"

He crossed his arms, and paused, then said sternly, "Yes, what about you? Why, in fact, are you outside the Vault at all? I don't even want to know how you get out. As much as I appreciate your help, you were supposed to stay there, to make a life for yourself there, not out here!"

"Fuck the Vault, I didn't need that place," She spat.

"I see. You're nineteen years old. Are you so sure you know what you want from life already? I supposed it doesn't matter now. I suspect there's no going back for either of us. We'll just have to forge on ahead, won't we?"

"Whatever. Let's head for Rivet City."

"That's my girl," He smiled, "Let's hurry. Now that I know what we need, I want to get back to work as soon as possible."

He walked toward the exit, and Gloria followed him.

They walked in silence for a while, Gloria swooping in every time to save him from Super Mutants or raiders.

Gloria was feeling worn down. She needed rest.

"Dad, I really need to stop..." She leaned against a crumbled building. James stopped, then nodded.

"We can rest for the night. I'll keep watch."

Gloria dozed off for a while, then a noise startled her awake. She reached for her gun, when her father pulled her hand away. "It was only me, sorry. Go back to sleep."

"I'll be fine, I'm used to it." Gloria said. She picked up her bag and dug around in it, then pulled out a bottle of dirty water and a bottle of purified water. She gave the purified water to her dad, and she opened the bottle of dirty water.

"Are you sure you want to drink that?"

"I'll be fine. A little radiation's not gonna hurt me."

"Sounds like you've never had radiation poisoning before."

"I have, actually," She took a long drink of the water, "for this girl in Megaton..." She said fondly, a smile on her lips, "She wanted me to get super irradiated so she can study me or... something." She pulled out a bag of potato chips and opened it. She offered it to her dad, who took a handful, then ate one at a time.

She stared at the ground for a while, then looked back up at her father, "Um... can we talk for a minute?"

James finished his water, then wiped his mouth, "Of course, honey. What's on your mind?"

To be honest, Gloria didn't really know. Was she angry her father up and left her? Or was she happy to see him, a familiar face in an unfamiliar world.

"How you could leave me like that? What the hell were you thinking?" She was almost on the verge of tears. Her vision became blurry, and she saw the sadness in her father's features. He hated seeing her cry, so he stood up and sat next to her. She took off her glasses and wiped away her tears. He pulled her into a hug, and she didn't push him away.

"I wanted to you to be safe. I didn't want this for you—a life out here in this Godforsaken warzone," He said softly, voice barely above a whisper, "I couldn't tell you what I was doing because I didn't want you following me. A plan which clearly was not as successful as I imagined it would be."

She pushed him away, putting her glasses back on, a pained look on her face. "Why would you put yourself at a risk like this? You have some sort of death wish?" Like she was the one to talk.

James had a look of shock on his features, "What? No. No, of course not! I... This is important work. Clean water can change the lives of so many people. It's worth the risk to help them."

Gloria pushed herself away from him, "Helping people? What about helping your own daughter?!"

James' heart sank as he watched his daughter start to cry again. He wanted to comfort her, but she would push him away.

"I understand you're angry. You have a right to be." He tore his eyes away from his daughter, "Perhaps the choice I made wasn't the right one. At the time, I thought I was doing what was best for you."

"How could abandoning me be the right choice?" She said, trying not to sound as sad as she felt.

"For almost twenty years now, I've done everything I can to see you have a good life. The Vault wasn't perfect, to be sure, but it was the safest place in the Wasteland. That's why I took you there in the first place. I didn't see it as abandoning you. I saw it as moving on, knowing you were safe."

"That's such bullshit!" She yelled, "You know what, Dad? Fuck you."

James kept his calm demeanor, even though his heart was tearing in two.

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Was all he could say.

Gloria slept for another few hours, then they went on their way back to Rivet City at dawn.

They were both anxious. They didn't know what to say to each other, so they didn't speak for the rest of their walk.


	7. Selfishness

The man begging for purified water in front of Rivet City nearly cried when James gave him a few bottles. Gloria scoffed and rolled her eyes; he was probably trying to get on her good side.

It wasn't like she was mad at him. Yeah, she was irritated that he left, but she found him again so she should be happy, right?

No, no, she was wrong. She was angrier than ever.

Whether it was from resentment or normal teenage angst she never grew out of, she couldn't forgive him.

He never hurt her with words or physical violence, but this selfish act reminded her of... herself.

It was frustrating because they were so alike. To his very core, leaving her and going off to fuck knows where, he was selfish.

And so was she. But she was proud of her nature. She never tried to hide it. Unlike her father who tries to be some kind of Saint to the wasteland. He wasn't anything special.

Back in the Vault, it was his job to be accepting and help her through hard times. Accepting she was a lesbian and giving her medication and therapy was what he was supposed to do.

She thinks back to Jonas and sighs. He didn't deserve to die because of her father's selfishness. He should have been alive now, happy. It wasn't fair; so many people died because of him—because of both of them. She couldn't place all the blame on him.

Harkness looked surprised to see James and Gloria walk through the bridge into the main ship. Word had probably gotten around that Gloria was looking for him; no one was sure if they would return.

She wished she hadn't, but that was a thought for another time.

Li looked even more surprised that James found his way back to Rivet City. She briefly wrapped her arms around him, pulling away and then slapping him across the face. Gloria tried to suppress a snicker as the other scientists looked on in shock.

"I guess I deserved that," James said, rubbing his cheek to quell the stinging pain. Li also shook her hand and said, "You're damn right you did. What were you thinking! You put yourself and your own daughter in danger!"

"I didn't expect her to escape the Vault-"

"Hey," Gloria interrupted, giving them both a mean look, "I'm right here. Now's not the time to argue."

"You're right. Did you find what you were looking for?" Li asked. James nodded, "We can use a G.E.C.K. to use with the purifiers."

"And so you have one?"

"Well, no. There wasn't one in 101 or in 12. We use a computer in the Jefferson Memorial to locate one, though."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Li looked between James and Gloria; the latter shrugged, "I already cleared it of Super Mutants. Should be fine."

James looked proud. Gloria couldn't care less.

The walk to the Memorial was uneventful; James had spent the majority of it tell Madison about his time in Vault 101, how Gloria turned out (much to her displeasure) and then finally asked Gloria about her hair. She had almost forgotten it'd been shaved off.

It had been 4 months since she left the Vault. So much had happened that she didn't have time to sit and think. She replied with "I wanted change. Then there was too much change."

James stopped his daughter, encouraging everyone to go on without them. He placed his hands on Gloria's shoulders, a feeling of guilt bubbling inside his chest as he felt how much weight she'd lost. "I'm sorry I left."

"You say that a lot, but are you really?"

James stayed quiet; she didn't need to hear anymore. "Whatever. Let's get this over with."

After getting settled in, James pulled Gloria aside to talk to her some more. He looked around with pride in his eyes and happiness and nostalgia in his heart. "Here we are. Where it all began. You remember your mother's favorite passage?"

"Yeah, Revelations 21:6. I've seen it everywhere."

"Don't you see? This is what it all means. The water, the purifier. This is the water of life. Your mother's dream. No point in wasting time. Let's get to work. There's much to be done."

"All right, what do you want?" Gloria sighed. She knew he'd be too busy or incompetent to do whatever she had to do.

"The Project was abandoned shortly after you were born. Things have deteriorated here since then, and there's been some flooding. I'll need you to her to the Flood Control Pumps and activate them so we can clear out the water and reach the mainframe."

"What? Why me? Can't someone else do it?" She was getting pretty tired of running around doing things for people.

"In a word? No. Everyone else has specific tasks to complete as the power comes back online. Don't worry. I'll guide you along the best I can using the intercom system. You'll do just fine."

"Whatever. Where do I need to go?"

All she really had to do was turn on a pump and plug in a few fuses. When she returned to her father, he looked impressed for some reason.

"I've been hearing good things about you. Is it true? Did you really disarm the bomb in Megaton?"

"Yeah, but... why do you care?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm very proud of you, Gloria. That's all."

"Thanks." She didn't mean it. Would she really trust him after what he'd done?

___

Running around the memorial, she found some tapes and audio diaries that belonged to James. Some were happy, one was downright uncomfortable, and some were- No. They weren't sad. The one about her mother's death made her heart ache. She didn't know or have any emotional attachment to her, but the way James talked about her was saddening. When the tape ended, she ejected it and threw it back where she found it. There was no use listening to it again.

She continued on with her work, flipping switches and killing more Super Mutants when they appeared out of nowhere. Her last assignment was to turn a valve in a pipe so water could flow through. She sighed and did as she told.

With a little hard work, the valve managed to turn and had begun to go back to the rotunda, when a strange noise approached. Looking through a hold in the pipe, a few helicopter-like objects decended and an alarm started to sound.

"Gloria Hill get back to the rotunda right now," James used his "Dad Voice" on her, and she sprinted back to where he was.

Something bad was happening, and she needed to find out what.

"By authority of the President, this facility is now under United States government control. The person in charge is to step forward immediately, and turn over all materials related to this project."

Gloria stopped at the glass separating her from her father and some other soldiers in power armor and a man in a tan jacket. She assumed she was the one in charge.

James glanced at her, then stepped forward, clenching and unclenching his fists.

That idiot was going to die.

Gloria's heartrate was through the roof as she tried to open the door through the console next to her, then she lifted her rifle above her head to smash the glass, when Li grabbed her arms and held onto her tightly.

James and the man in charge, Colonel Autumn, argued for a little; the purifier was not going to work, and James had no idea how to fix it.

He refused to give up his project to the Enclave, until Autumn killed the other scientist in the control room. Li gasped in shock and her jolt caused Gloria to lean back onto her, then she rebalanced herself. James finally agreed to help him. He turned around and typed in the code to start the purifier, and waited a while.

Then there was a burst of radiation. The geiger counter of Gloria's Pip-Boy was ticking wildly, and she screamed when her dad stumbled over to the glass pane.

"Run... run..." He said before falling onto his knees and slumping to the ground.

Gloria stared at him even as Li shook her, yelling, "We have to get out of here. They'll be coming for us next. We've got to evacuate now!"

"I'm not leaving my dad in there!" Gloria screamed, tears spilling out of her eyes. Her throat felt tight and her heart felt like someone punched a hole through it.

"There's nothing we can do for him now. The radiation levels in there are lethal. You'd die the same way he did."

Gloria didn't say anything. She didn't even remember leaving the memorial and arriving at the Citadel, where Li was yelling at the Brotherhood of Steel to let her and her team inside.


	8. Message Begins

Sarah knocked on the doorway of the room Gloria was borrowing during her time at the Citadel. Gloria didn't acknowledge her, so she let herself in.

"Gloria," Her voice was strong, yet gentle at the same time.

Gloria blinked, still staring at the ground, "You know, I actually didn't hate him. I was so mad, but I didn't hate him."

Sarah sat down next to her, pulling Gloria into her chest and wrapping her arms around the other's significantly smaller frame. She'd lost weight in the past three weeks she stayed with her.

"I know. He knows... knew it too."

Gloria exhaled, leaning her head on Sarah's collarbone, "You're warm."

"You're starving yourself."

"It's not like I don't deserve it. I don't deserve anything."

"Don't say that, you deserve the world."

Gloria laughed, dangerously close to a scoff, "Whatever. I don't care anymore."

"I got a message from a trader; says Moira misses you and needs you to return your friend's call."

Gloria didn't bother lifting her head, but instead lifted her gaze to Sarah's face, "What?"

She handed Gloria a torn piece of paper, and she unfolded it and sighed.

Things had gone to shit in Vault 101; The Overseer enforced stricter and unfair rules on the residents, which resulted in a rebellion. Whoever wasn't killed was going to be if Gloria didn't act fast.

While Vault 101 was no longer her home, she still had to protect Amata.

Everything she did was for her, she realized—well, almost everything.

She tossed the paper to the side, then stretched her arms over her head, grunting when her back popped and turned to Sarah, "Alright."

"You'll help them?"

"I have to. There's no one else who will."

She went back on her promise and spent the next week in Rivet City.

The sun was beginning to set, and the slightest of sunrays shined over the ruins in the distance, covering the sky with clouds of pink and red, purple and orange. Times in solitude were times spent drinking vodka and getting lost in her thoughts.

Gloria sat at the edge of the broken bow of Rivet City, where Pinkterton had set up her laboratory, legs dangling over the edge of the water, swinging back in forth gently. She waited for the scientist to finish Harkness' checkup; ever since she's told him he was an android, he'd been worried something would break. Of course, he wouldn't, but he would not believe her. So she would take him to the man who reset his memory and, well, she'd leave them to it.

She'd watch the waves lap against the boat, the sun set and get drunk. The only peaceful moments in her life.

The air was cool and she shivered due to the lack of clothing she wears. Her Vault 101 jumpsuit was barely enough to shield her from the cold, and with its rips and tears all around, barely holding together, it let the chilly evening air inside. Her fingers were the coldest, hanging onto a cold bottle of vodka like a lifeline, hoping it could make her forget.

Forget what?

She took another sip, then set it back in her lap as she watched the sunset.

It was beautiful, she thought.

"You sure can't get anything like this in the vault," She whispered to herself, "James would've loved this."

The drink wasn't working, but it sure as shit made her feel a whole lot better.

It made her remember the little things she would have forgotten for some reason. Reminiscing was something she was doing a lot lately, thinking about the past - what she could have done differently, what could have changed. Would her life be any better if one, tiny, insignificant thing never happened?

It was hard to remember when she was sober. She was filled with grief, thinking about her dad's face, his last dying words. It was difficult.

Alcohol made the feeling go away.

She could think about the good times. Her tenth birthday, every time Amata would smile at her...

She took another large gulp and winced.

She missed her dad so much.

She missed a lot of things.

Not fearing for her life, the comfort of knowing when and where her next meal was going to be, not having to sleep on the ground hovering between consciousness and unconsciousness...

She drank the rest of her vodka and threw the bottle over the edge.

She thought about following it to the bottom of the sea, letting the water wash over her so she never had to see daylight again.

Nothing would get those thoughts of her head. They were a constant darkness, sticking to her every part of her soul, slowly sucking the life out of her.

Depression was back, and so was the anorexia, and then there were the drugs. Med-X numbs the pain and Jet brings euphoria. Both of which she needed.

She hadn't noticed she was standing, toes hovering over the edge of the boat. The waves crashed against the bow below her, beckoning her to follow through, to jump and forget.

She had almost followed its call when someone grabbed her shoulder and pulled her away from the ledge. "Gloria, hey, don't do that." She didn't need to turn around to know it was Harkness.

"Why?"

"We need you here. I wouldn't be able to do my job without you."

He was right, but it was a shitty reason to not kill herself, but she sighed and accepted she'd live another day.

"Let's go home."

Home. She didn't have one; nothing felt like home anymore. Even if she was back in 101, in her small and cozy apartment, it would still feel like something—someone was missing.

She glanced to the Jefferson Memorial in the distance; there were vertibirds and ant-sized people rushing about. The Brotherhood hasn't been able to clear the Enclave out.

They needed her help, but there was no way she was mentally stable enough to do more work. So, she sat outside and drank and wished for death.

Harkness gently nudged her towards the stairwell, hoping to get her inside before she tries to hurt herself again.

"Gloria?" He asked when she wouldn't move. She grunted, shaking his hands off of her, "I don't have anywhere to go."

"You can sleep in the Common Room-"

"Fuck off, Harkness." She scoffed, then left without listening to his reply. She didn't need him to chastise her more.

She needed to do something to get her mind off of things. Everything.

She checked her Pip-Boy for some quests, and the first thing she had neglected to do was check out a strange transmission on the other side of the map.

Oh, well. It could be interesting.

Marking the location, she stood up, stumbling a little, and made her way down the stairs.

It was when she was teleported back to Earth, Gloria realized she needed a vacation.

Sure, being abducted by aliens, fighting said aliens with a cowboy, an army medic, some random scavenger, a Japanese samurai and a little girl was the best fun she's had since the incident at the Jefferson Memorial a week ago, but it was time to take a break.

Besides, Megaton was on the way back to the Citadel.

Dogmeat, a dog she picked up at a junkyard a day before she was so rudely abducted by aliens, was waiting for her when she got back to her house in Megaton. She was already tired and feeling sick from all the punga fruit she's eaten.

She took a quick shower, grabbed a meal that wasn't from another planet, and went to bed.

She slipped to the radio tab on her Pip-Boy to listen to some music before bed, but something looked wrong. There was another station. She turned it on.

"This is an automated distress message from Vault-Tec: Vault 101. Message begins" There was a robotic voice, then another voice- Amata's:

"It feels like you left home a long time ago, but I know you're still out there. I hope you're still alive to hear this. Things got worse after you left. My father's gone mad with power. Gloria, if you can hear this, please stop looking for your dad and help stop mine. I changed the door password to my name. If you're hearing this, and if you still care enough to help me, you should remember it."

Gloria switched off her radio, then sighed.

She promised Sarah she would help the Vault; plus, she left most of her belongings there and she would like to have them back.


	9. Free

Gloria set out for Vault 101 early the next morning. She felt a little nervous, but calmed herself down with a shot of Med-X. And another one for good measure.

She opened up the creaky door to the tunnel, and at the other end was the door that separated her from her old home.

No. This wasn't home; this was somewhere she'd left behind in another life.

The metal door slid open when she typed in the password and pulled the switch, opening the Vault to the outside world. She considered leaving it open, but changed her mind when she passed the console inside the Vault and continued on inside.

It hadn't changed. Officer Gomez still cut her some slack, like he used to when she was caught sneaking out after curfew and—

She sighed, tightening her fist. Don't think about the past. Nothing good could come of it.

Wandering the same corridors she's wandered for the first eighteen years of her life couldn't stop the memories flooding in. None of them were exceptionally life-changing, but they did have a significant impact on her.

She didn't notice running straight into Butch, who swung his switchblade and sliced her arm in a clean cut. The blood welled up in the wound and dripped down her arm. She didn't pay any attention to it.

Stacy, on the other hand, hit Butch in the arm and screamed, "What the hell, you hurt her!"

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here, Nosebleed," Butch ignored his girlfriend, who was holding a rag up to Gloria's arm. Gloria rolled her eyes, "Good to see you too, Butch."

"Whatever."

Stacy smiled at Gloria, completely ignoring the tension in the air, "Hey, you're back! Where'd you go?"

"I... went for a walk." She looked at Butch, who shrugged. It seems he never told her Gloria had left. It didn't matter, since she was back to help.

"If you're done with your walk, could you please help us?"

"Why?"

"Because you're a goody-two-shoes, right? You get off on helping people in trouble?" Butch interrupted, and Gloria grimaced, "No, that's fucking gross."

"Whatever. I tell you, your old man had the right idea. I can't stand it down here anymore. You gotta help me and Stacy get out."

"It's not my problem," Gloria jerked her arm out of Stacy's grip, blood still dripping down her arm, but not as heavily as before.

"Gloria," Stacy gripped her arm again, "Please. People have... Paul he... If I told everyone about the Radroaches then he'd be-"

"Stacy," Butch interrupted. His scowl softened, "It wasn't your fault."

"What happened?" Gloria asked. It probably wasn't the right thing to ask because Stacy had started to cry, grasping onto Gloria's jumpsuit like a lifeline.

Butch ushered them into the clinic where some other residents were hiding out.

"There was a Radroach infestation, and one bit Paul. The bite got infected and he-"

"I saw them, and I didn't tell anyone and now Paul's dead. All because I'm a coward."

"Stacy, stop thinking about that. It's not your fault."

She took a moment to take a few deep breaths, then wiped at her eyes, "I'm sorry I-I can't stop thinking about it."

"It's okay, Stacy," Gloria said. While she didn't have OCD like Stacy did, she knew what it felt like to get a thought stuck in her head.

"I actually came to the Vault when Amata sent out a distress message. She called for me, specifically."

"Shit, I didn't think she'd get it out in time."

Gloria felt a bit guilty knowing she'd left all of these people for her own selfish desires. Time in the Wasteland had made her unforgiving and cruel; she couldn't go back to it again.

But nonetheless, she still felt like she was wasting her own time. But it didn't matter now as Amata had spotted her and threw her arms around Gloria's shoulders, tears welling up in her eyes as she whispered, "Oh my God, you're back you got my message and actually came back!"

"I came as soon as I heard you were in trouble." Gloria half-lied.

"Oh, thank you! Everything's gone to shit since you left, and now you're back, you can help set things straight."

"Hold on there, I never agreed to anything yet. What the hell is going on anyway? Where is everyone else?"

"This is the rebellion. My da- I mean, the Overseer wants to keep everyone inside the Vault, and we all want to have a choice to leave or not."

Both the Vault and the Wastes are Hell in their own rights. But Gloria respected the freedom of choice, so she finally relented, "Okay, alright, what do you need."

"You have to talk to the Overseer." She sighed, "I wish we could have saved more people. Jonas, and the Hannons, and so many other died that night. It was bad enough they died because my father was trying to keep the door closed, but then I found out it was all to protect a lie! I found out the Vault wasn't always closed! They've lied to us about it for our entire lives!"

"Yeah, I found out when I left. I would have told you, but I was kinda in a hurry."

"What? Why not?! You know what, never mind, what's important is now we know we were lied to all our lives, and people have died for that lie. And even now, when we need help, the Overseer still won't let us try to communicate with the outside!"

"Your dad's pushing his luck."

"You're absolutely right. It's not like we want to abandon the Vault or anything! Well, Butch and Stacy do, but Butch is too big a coward to go out on his own, and doesn't know how to open the door. Most of us had accepted the outside was certain death and things would stay the same down here, but now we know they don't have to be! After all, it was enough to get you and your dad to leave, so there must be something good out there."

"You're completely wrong, but I'll help you. Only because you look like you're about to kill me if I refuse to help."

Amata rolled her eyes, and Gloria smiled. As she was turning away, Amata grabbed her arm.

"Gloria, it's good to see you again. I... missed you."

"Yeah, I guess I missed you too."

They stared at each other for a few moments, then Gloria looked away.

"Please, be careful." Amata said.

Gloria nodded, "When am I ever not careful?" She smiled.

Her old apartment, was blocked off, the door permantently locked under investigation.

She picked up a nearby chair and broke the glass window in her old living room. She climbed inside, and brushed the stray glass shards off of her.

It was a little painful to be in here.

The last night she's slept in here, she came out to James, and he had told her she needed to grow the hell up and realize she needed to stand up for herself. Not his exact words, but it had the same effect on her.

She went to bed crying; she thought he was talking about her relapse a week before, when she threw up again. Oh, how wrong she was.

She felt tears well up in her eyes. She couldn't cry now. Show no weakness and everything.

She had to act quickly, so she grabbed all her plans for future weapons and inventions and shoved them into her bag.

Before she left, she made sure to pick up the picture she took with her dad when she was 10.

She took a moment to look back at her old apartment, but now wasn't the time to reminisce.

The walk to the Overseer's office was the same as ever: her heart beat in her chest faster and faster until she thought it would explode. The only thing missing was James behind her, reassuring her it would be okay.

Alphonse was waiting for her as she pounded on the button to open the door. She knew all of the tricks to get inside, even when the door was locked.

"Well, I see you've returned. Done with the dust and ruins of the Wasteland, are you? Given up looking for Daddy? Thought you could slink back in, like a teen missing curfew? Well that's too bad. You have no future in the Vault. You're tainted."

"I'm tainted? You're the bastard who murdered Jonas!" Gloria yelled.

"I assume you're talking about the unpleasantness when you left, yes? Jonas and your father were endangering the future success of this Vault and the safety of its residents. I did what I had to do to keep that from destroying all we had achieved here. I only wish I could have prevented it from happening at all."

"You killed him because he as in love with my dad." She growled.

"First of all, I didn't kill Jonas, I commanded chief Hannon to do so, only because it had to be done. Jonas was going to leave with your father. If he left, others would have left to join them. And they'd all vanish into the Wastes, never to return. And with our numbers so depleted, we wouldn't be able to last beyond another generation. Assuming your disgusting way of life doesn't interfere with procreation."

Gloria's face twisted into a snarl, "Your daughter sure doesn't agree with you there."

"What?" He yelled, his hands curling into fists. Gloria assumed she deserved getting socked in the jaw, but it was still worth it. She rubbed the sore spot, continuing on, "You're not helping your people, you're destroying them, can't you see that?"

"I'm afraid you're the shortsighted one here. I'm simply keeping them safe and untouched by the war above. The real danger are the rebels and insurgents who insist on risking all of our lives to die out there in the Wastes. If they weren't trying to throw our lives away like that, we could go back to the peaceful life we once had. Everyone would be happy again."

"The rebels are upset because you lied to them about the outside."

"They have to understand we did that to keep them from going outside and getting themselves killed. To keep them from making the same mistake our generation did when we were their age. Some of us already lost loved ones out there long ago. We won't lose any more today."

"This is getting ridiculous. It's completely obvious there isn't enough people down here to keep bloodlines pure or something. If you think I'm disgusting, inbreeding will sure get your panties in a twist. Now, step down and let someone else become Overseer because you're doing such a good job." Gloria threw up her hands in exasperation, then turned around and marched down to the lower levels where the rebels were.

The Overseer seemed to have agreed with her, since he made Amata the Overseer.

"My father is stepping down as Overseer. He won't tell me why, but I have to assume it's something you said to him."

"He didn't even realize how wrong he was, but I set him straight."

"Well, thanks for keeping you cool and not resorting to violence. That sort of thing would only lead to more problems in the future. It's time for our dusty old Vault to have a new beginning. And it'll start be opening it up again, and this time for good. It's a bright new day for the Vault... but I'm afraid one thing has to change."

Gloria sighed, "You're kicking me out, aren't you"

Amata's mouth pursed into a line. She didn't want to do this, but many of the residents haven't forgiven Gloria and James for what they did. Gloria could accept it, though.

"I'm sorry," Amata said, avoiding eye contact.

"Whatever. I never belonged here; it's a place full of terrible memories and toxic feelings. But, it's helped me realize I belong outside," Gloria laughed. Amata looked back at her friend's face, perplexed at what she said, then smiled.

"You belong with me."

"Amata..." Gloria sighed, "You're giving me mixed signals."

Amata hugged Gloria tightly, twisting the leather of Gloria's jumpsuit between her fingers and burying her face into her shoulder. Gloria nearly fell over, then giggled and hugged Amata back.

"I hope I'll see you again," Amata said as she finally pulled away after a few moments.

"Hey," She brushed Amata's cheek with the back of her hand, "thanks for not making my life unbearable. I'll see you around," Gloria said.

Amata held onto Gloria's hand and pressed her lips onto the other girl's, then smiled.

"See ya," Amata whispered.

As Gloria exited into the Vault entrance, she pulled the lever and waited for the door to open before she stepped onto the extending platform to cross through to the outside. The last time she was here, she felt scared and unsure. Now, she felt like she had closure. Something to look back on and think "Hey, at least I fixed that mess."

She traced the door with her fingers, brushing the dust long the doorway and wiping the excess dust on her jumpsuit. This was it.

She was free.

"You're not thinking about leaving us, are you Nosebleed?" Butch's voice interrupted her monologue. She glanced back at the entrance and nodded her head towards the door, inviting Butch and Stacy with her.


	10. To Forget

The sunlight was still blinding as ever when the three of them - Gloria Hill, Butch DeLoria, and Stacy Cole - found themselves at the top of the hill overlooking Megaton and the remnants of Springvale. It was nostalgic to Gloria at least, and Butch and Stacy both covered their eyes with both of their hands.

Gloria opted to give them each a pair of sunglasses, but she didn't have any. She smiled, remembering how scared she was, how lost and desperate she used to be. Now she could say she's the Ranger of the Wastes, whatever that means. Three Dog calls her that, and the name kinda stuck. "Lone Wanderer" doesn't apply to her any more since she picked up Dogmeat.

"Your headache will go away in about a day," Gloria mumbled and led the two to Megaton.

She had deja vu when she entered the gates of the small ramshackle town, except now she was literally a legend and a few thousand caps richer.

It was nice knowing that she started a new chapter in her life. She was probably never going to see anyone from the Vault (except Butch and Stacy) ever again, and she honestly didn't care one bit. This was her life now: wake up, kill something, come home, get high, go to sleep. It was nicer than her Vault routine, and it felt even better knowing that she never had to put a bandaid on anyone's scraped knee ever again.

The overwhelming sense of nausea hit her right as she stepped onto the broken pavement. She bent over and threw up as Butch and Stacy looked away, giving her some sense of privacy.

Well. That was interesting. Maybe it was the alcohol or the rush of adrenaline she's been feeling almost all day. She wiped her mouth and spit onto the ground a few times, then covered the mess with dirt. "That was weird."

"You okay?" Stacy asked, rubbing her finger under her nose; she did that when she needed to stim, and Gloria assumed throwing up overstimulated her.

"Yeah, probably had too much to drink is all. I'll be fine. I think." She mumbled the last sentence, while she rubbed her eyes, then placed her glasses back on her face.

"Anyways, we should go. I've got a place in a town nearby and I'll show you the ropes."

Both of them were fascinated by the size of Megaton. The Vault was probably much larger, but Megaton was a large area enclosed by fences and built up instead of out. Butch touched the metal railings with wonder and burned himself like Gloria had done so many months ago.

They fit in well in Gloria's home, like they've lived there before. Butch had found himself something to fiddle around with while Stacy counted the holes and sharp snags in the walls.

Gloria, on the other hand, had drunken herself into an alcohol-induced-almost coma and slept on the floor like a dog. Neither Butch nor Stacy found the energy to move her.

Stacy picked up a half-empty bottle of vodka and took a swig, cringing as it traveled down her throat and set it back onto the floor near the other countless bottles of alcohol. The sight was worrying, to say the least, but Stacy didn't really know how to approach the subject.

Maybe it wasn't even her business; besides, Butch was way better at dealing with this kind of thing than she was.

The thought of Gloria drinking herself to death made her heart sink. While they hadn't been close throughout childhood, she was one of the only people she knew out here in the Wasteland.

Oh, Geez. Gloria didn't have anyone she knew out here when she first left the Vault. It must have been torture knowing that everything she knew was only down the road and sealed behind a six-ton door.

Everything Stacy knew was sealed behind that door. She sighed and tucked her hair behind her eyes, closing her eyes slowly to let the feeling sink in.

Butch, on the other hand, couldn't be happier to be out of the Vault. It wasn't like anyone actually cared about him; the only person who did was Stacy (he thinks) and she was out here with him, so! He didn't leave anyone behind.

Not even his mother who hadn't done anything to stop him from leaving and had been so fucking horrible to him ever since—

Stacy placed a hand on his shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts. She still had a smile on her face, since she had a hard time with empathy and telling when people are upset. It didn't bother him in the slightest, though, since it was kind of embarrassing he was sad about his mom.

No, no. He couldn't care less about her. She didn't care about him, anyway, why would be care about her?

"Woah, you okay Butch?" Gloria had woken up and noticed the scowl on his face. He huffed and looked away from her. She shrugged and picked up a half-empty bottle of beer and drank the rest of it, wincing at the horrible taste, and threw the bottle somewhere else.

"Hey, so, we gotta get something from a Vault or... whatever. And like, you know. Not die. You know how to shoot a gun right?"

Both of them shook their head, and Gloria groaned and laid back on the floor, "Tomorrow I'll teach you. Whatever. Go back to bed."

"It's twelve in the afternoon," Butch glanced at his Pip-Boy, then back to his drunk companion, who waved her hand in dismissal.

Gloria woke up briefly to sit up and wonder who the hell cleaned up her house before she realized that she let Stacy and Butch out of the Vault. She almost immediately regretted that decision.

"Wh-" She slurred as soon as Stacy walked down the stairs. "What's going on?"

"Oh, uh, I cleaned up a bit! And then Butch said that he was going to take a nap, so I came back here!"

Gloria laid back onto the ground and stared at the ceiling while Stacy leaned into her line of sight. "I noticed your dad isn't here, is he...?"

"Yeah, he's dead."

"I'm sorry." She really wasn't, but it was the sentiment that mattered. Stacy helped Gloria onto her feet, and then she checked the time on her Pip-Boy. 12: 30. There wasn't enough time to get to Vault 87 before nightfall. Damn, she really needed to get on that, but everything was so overwhelming. She wanted to get high and go to sleep.

Before she could tell Stacy to fuck off, she was interrupted by Butch's annoying voice sounding from the top of the stairs; "And I thought the Vault looked like shit, but it's worse out here."

Stacy scolded him, "Don't be rude."

Gloria chuckled, "I hope you realize I can beat you up now."

"No way, you're still a scrawny stick. I even think you shrunk a few inches." He descended down the stairs to join the rest of their group. Gloria flicked the screen off and scratched her head, "Anyway, it's too late to go out and do... whatever. Get something from somewhere. Why don't you two get something to eat and I'll stay here and fix up some weapons and armor."

"You think she'll be okay? She looked really messed up..." Stacy said as she and Butch walked to the bottom of the crater to get some dinner from the Brass Lantern. She paused briefly to read the neon sign on the side of the building, then turned to her boyfriend, "This is a fast food place? I thought those didn't exist anymore."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

She pointed to the glowing Chinese characters, and she shrugged, "Oh, I thought I already told you: I learned Chinese when I was younger... Mom didn't want me to 'forget my roots' or something." She giggled, "I thought she was wasting my time, but... never mind"

"You'll never have to see her again," Butch slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him, and she relaxed in his embrace, "I know. It doesn't reverse what she put me through."

He was silent for a few moments, and she felt comfortable in his embrace.

"Come on, Gloria looks like she's going to drop dead if she doesn't eat soon."

Stacy nodded in agreement, "I'm worried about her."

"Me too, Stacy." Butch said, "It's not our place to talk about it."

"That's oddly mature of you."

"Thanks... I think." He smiled as Stacy playfully hit him in the arm and then ordered their food.

The sun was rising and sending light into Gloria's small house through the holes in the walls and windows. Stacy woke up, eyes fluttering open and immediately shutting when the light shined into them. She turned to face away from the window, and snuggled closer to Butch, who was sound asleep next to her. She smiled and kissed him gently on the cheek, trying her best not to wake him as she got out of bed. She stretched her tired limbs and tip-toed out of their room.

Gloria was awake, Stacy noticed; she probably didn't go to bed. She had on her glasses and a grey bandana wrapped around her head, her Vault 101 jumpsuit was sleeveless and torn up, revealing her dirty white undershirt and her boots were falling apart. Stacy also noted that she was drinking a bottle of vodka, with a few beer and whiskey bottles scattered around her.

Stacy walked down the stairs and over to the Wanderer, looking over her shoulder.

She was concentrating on her electricity rifle; it was torn apart and the pieces looked like they were thrown around on the workbench.

"What is it?" Gloria asked, a little annoyed, but mostly tired. Stacy's breath caught in her throat, "You didn't eat last night I was wondering-"

"Go back to bed."

"What about you? You need sleep too."

Gloria cursed as she touched something that was glowing inside the gun, then waved Stacy away, "I'm busy."

"You need to go to bed, Nosebleed," Butch said from the top of the stairs, leaning over the railing. He started Stacy, as she didn't hear him get up.

Gloria glared at him, then back to the gun, "Leave me alone for fuck's sake."

"It's not healthy to stay awake this long," He walked down the stairs and over to the two girls, and kicked an empty beer bottle, "and this drunk."

"Fuck off, Butch," Her brows furrowed, and even Stacy could tell that if Butch didn't let up, they were going to start throwing punches.

"I'm saying, Gloria, if you don't wanna die, you need to take care of yourself."

She threw her half-empty bottle of vodka at him, which he easily dodged and it crashed against the wall.

Stacy surprised her urge to clean it up, due to having lot of experience with thrown vodka bottles, and stepped back as Butch grabbed Gloria by the front of her jumpsuit and throwing her against the wall next to the front door.

Gloria grunted and pushed herself off of the wall and punched Butch in the jaw, and Butch gritted his teeth and punched her in the stomach. Gloria kicked him in the nuts and when he doubled over, she kneed him in the face. Butch stood up and, ignoring his most likely broken nose, grabbed Gloria by the front of her jumpsuit and shoved her against the wall, then punched her in the face a few times.

And that's when Stacy almost literally snapped.

"Both of you, stop!" She screeched, and Butch stopped short of delivering another punch, and Stacy pushed them apart. "We're not in the Vault any more, you don't need to fight every five minutes!"

Gloria rolled her eyes and Butch glared at her.

"I'm..." Stacy took in a deep breath, "I'm sick of you two fighting all the time. We're in this together, and if you can't get along then what's the point of working together? We can't argue while those Enclave guys take over the Wasteland, you need to get along or they're going to win. Without your teamwork... everything will fall apart and we will die."

No one said anything, so Stacy took it as a sign of surrender from the both of them.

"Now, Gloria," She looked at the blonde, who looked a bit taken back, but with a hint of anger on her features. Stacy smiled and gently touched her shoulder, "you're a mess, and you need to sober up. Have a meal and take a shower. I'll wash and fix up your clothes. I'll also clean your house since your robot has mysteriously disappeared."

Gloria didn't argue. Stacy turned to Butch and pulled him into a hug, "You too, get something to eat, take a shower and get back to sleep."

"Fine," He groaned, and Stacy smiled even wider and kissed him on the forehead.

After the three ate and bathed, Gloria and Butch went back to their separate rooms and hopefully went back to sleep. Stacy worked on repairing everyone's armor and cleaned up the house.

When the sun had fully set and the moon's light shined in through the windows, Stacy went upstairs to check on the two of them.

Gloria was sound asleep in her bed, clutching a teddy bear tightly and mumbling something in her sleep. Stacy placed her now tear-free, clean jumpsuit on her desk. Her eye caught a framed picture of Mr. Hill and ten-year-old Gloria, both smiling.

She brushed off the dust that collected on it and she heard Gloria sigh.

"For my tenth birthday, Dad and Jonas fixed up a BB gun for me," Gloria said. Her eyes still looked tired, but she was smiling - something Stacy hadn't seen in a long, long time.

"Was that even allowed?" Stacy asked as Gloria sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"No," She laughed, "but he did it anyway. Security in there was so shitty, I was able to make so many weapons."

"Why?"

She scratched her leg and shrugged, "I hoped I would somehow need them. Like... Ever since I was a kid I knew I didn't really belong in there. I had always dreamed of escaping."

"I didn't." Stacy placed the photo back on the desk.

"A lot of people didn't. We were taught that there was nothing out here, and yet... here we are. In a town with people we haven't grown up with. We're outside."

Stacy smiled, "Yeah... you're right. It's a little scary."

Gloria's smile was sympathetic, "Yeah, it is. Hell, I've been in space and I'm still damn scared sometimes. But you've got me and Butch. We won't let anything hurt you, okay?"

Stacy ran to Gloria and hugged her tightly, "Thank you." She whispered. Gloria laughed and hugged her back, "You're welcome. You need to get to bed now. Thanks for... everything."

Stacy nodded and returned to her room.

Gloria sat up and picked up the picture Stacy was looking at.

Both she and her dad looked so happy. There was nothing wrong with her at the time.

It felt so long ago; it didn't feel like it was her at all.

Gloria put the picture down and tried to keep her tears from spilling out of her eyes. She really needed to forget. Forget everything.

She dug around in her bag and pulled out a vial of Med-X and removed the cap and took a deep breath before sticking the needle into her arm and depressing the plunger. She pulled the needle out and put the cap back on and set it next to the picture.

It took a few minutes for her mind to become hazy and her body to become numb, and she fell into a dreamless sleep.


	11. And She was Free

Gloria knew bringing Butch and Stacy to Vault 87 would be a mistake. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, her conscience was screaming at her it would be a bad idea. Naturally, she didn't listen. When has she ever listened to good advice?

Butch was a lousy shot, and Stacy outright refused to hold a gun, so Gloria had to do most of the killing.

When they turned a corner into a long hallway, Gloria was about to give up and turn back, but a voice caught her attention.

What she hadn't expected was a talking super mutant named Fawkes who got the G.E.C.K. in return for his release in his cell. Gloria was happy to oblige, since it meant less radiation for her.

But the thing she expected the least was an Enclave ambush.

Butch and Stacy were of no help getting her out of the Enclave base as it burned in an explosion she caused. She didn't bother looking back at the largest explosion of all erupting from the base. The Vault Rejects looked impressed with her display.

The thought of taking them down was nice and all, but she needed to get back to the Citadel to get the Jefferson Memorial back into the Brotherhood's hands.

Gloria never knew how it would come to this. One moment, she's fresh out of the Vault, looking for her dad, and now—now she was fighting alongside with a giant robot with the Brotherhood of Steel, her childhood bully, and the nicest girl on earth taking back Project Purity from the Enclave.

It was an interesting moment, but short-lived when she was almost hit with a plasma blast.

It was a little nerve-racking when Butch, Stacy, Sentinel Lyons and Gloria reached the rotunda in the Jefferson Memorial. She had killed Colonel Autumn as petty revenge for killing her father, and somehow, the purifier was damaged due to the attack. The only way to keep it from blowing up was to turn it on. And to shut it down meant someone had to go into a radiation-flooded room and release even more radiation.

Gloria took that chance. There was no way in hell she trusted anyone else with the password.

She had no time to say goodbye to her new friends. Butch gave her a nod, silently thanking her and saying goodbye. Stacy hugged her and kissed her on the cheek, telling her she'll never forget she's the one who saved the Wasteland.

...How sad that she would be so selfish, even now. She would be a martyr, a hero, a saint to these people, and all she could think about was being able to hold Amata in her arms and tell her of the things she has done.

Even as radiation filled the chamber, the geiger counter on her Pip-Boy ticking in the beat of her own frantic heartbeat as she typed in the numbers.

She pressed the number 2 on the keypad.

A quick glance back to Butch and Stacy and Sarah; oh, how she wanted to tell them she was going to be okay.

1

That she wasn't going to die.

6

But, she was. There was no denying it.

Enter

The world turned white with a smile on her face and the water in the rotunda clearing up. Her wish had been granted.

She was free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Horrible.


	12. Rebirth

"Has she woken up yet?" She heard Butch's voice in the distance. He sounded... Worried? No, that's impossible. Butch was never worried about anything.

Stacy was quiet. Gloria wanted to talk to her, but she also wanted to dream. Thinking about her good memories was comforting. It was nice when they passed through her mind; usually it was bad memories, though.

If this was heaven, then it fucking sucked. It was easy to delve into repressed memories, both good and bad, and come back to absolute blackness, where only voices and machines and footsteps could be heard.

She hoped this was at least purgatory. It's not as bad as she thought it would be.

It's not; only a long-awaited sleep. It seems most heroines sleep before their rebirth, like the circle of life.

But Gloria didn't expect to wake up. She didn't expect to be alive.

It wasn't like she was going to heaven. Almost everything she did warranted her arrival in Hell; sure, she'd done some good things, but not enough for forgiveness.

But mostly, she was a little disappointed to see she wasn't in Heaven. She was in the Citadel clinic.

Elder Lyons explained to her what happened: She miraculously survived the radiation from the Purifier and it knocked both her and Sentinel Lyons unconscious. Two weeks have passed, and she's finally awake.

And, Gloria couldn't live without having to do something for somebody. She had to destroy the remaining Enclave.

It wasn't too hard. Liberty Prime, the giant overly-patriotic robot, was destroyed though. But hey, she got to ride a metro bus.

She felt a certain satisfaction to see the rest of the Enclave blow up in some building at a base.

~~~

She felt truly alive when she dragged Butch and Stacy back onto the Vertibird the Brotherhood stole from the Enclave and, and they stole it again.

She had no idea how to fly it, but somehow she managed to get it to go up and away in a different direction, away from the Citadel. Butch complained about the wind messing up his hair and Stacy was waving to the Brotherhood from the doorway as they took off. Gloria was screaming and laughing at the same time as they almost crashed into the Washington Monument, but Stacy hit something and they barely missed it.

She waved back to Megaton, Vault 101, Girdershade, the settlements they passed over, knowing they'll never see them again. None of them seemed to mind.

They were somewhere in New Mexico when they crash landed.

The three Vault rejects expected the desert to be hot, even in January. But nope, it was freezing.

It wasn't too hard finding food. Since Gloria was a bit of a hoarder, they had plenty of canned beans and potato chips. Water, on the other hand, was a rarity.

The only water Gloria had was dirty water, and she forgot to pack her Food Purifier with her. There was only so much RadAway and punga fruit for them, when radiation sickness became a problem.

Stacy was the first to get sick. It was surprising. She was the most physically fit out of the three, and she was the first one to double over and throw up. It reminded Gloria of herself.

Stacy managed. They only had to stop every once in a while to let her rest.

Gloria finally sat her down (after giving herself a shot of Med-X to stop the shakes and the cravings) and diagnosed her with Advanced Radiation Poisoning.

"I'd offer you my radiation suit, but I don't think that's going to help much." Gloria tried. Stacy responded by throwing up in a bucket beside Gloria's feet. That's the last time she ever tried to joke around.

"Don't you have any of that fruit stuff?" Butch asked, sitting on the other side of Stacy and rubbing her back.

"No. We ran out about a week ago. It's too late to go back to Point Lookout."

Butch made a huffing noise, and Stacy coughed, then threw up again, barely missing Butch's shoes.

"How do you have so much food in you?" He asked her. She shook her head. Gloria rummaged around in her bags, but found nothing to help her.

"It's probably stomach acid. When you run out of food, you throw that up instead. Don't ask me why."

"How do you know?" Butch asked.

Gloria sighed, "None of your business, Butch. What time is it? The clock's broken on my Pip-Boy."

He checked his Pip-Boy, then moved out of the way before Stacy threw up again. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer.

"Is she cold?" Gloria asked. Butch pushed back her hair covering her face and felt it with the back of his hand.

"Yeah... is she not supposed to be cold or something?"

"No, probably not. I'm not sure. I never had radiation poisoning."

"What about that person... Moira? The crazy book girl? Didn't you say you stood in a puddle of irradiated water for three hours for her?"

"Don't... make fun of her!" Gloria scowled, "But, yeah, I did. But it was only for a few hours, not for days on end. Anyway, you should probably give her a blanket or maybe your jacket if she's cold."

"Why my jacket? Why not yours?" He unconsciously tightened it around him.

"She's your girlfriend."

He hesitated, then shrugged off his jacket and put it around Stacy's shoulders, then pulled her close to him again. He looked kind of silly with only his Vault suit on, but now was not the time to make fun of him.

Stacy woke up and threw up again, then laid her head back on Butch's shoulder and groaned.

"I hope she's not becoming a ghoul." He said.

Gloria laughed, "No, I'm pretty sure she won't. I guess tomorrow we can hit the wastes and look for RadAway."

"Yeah, that would be a good idea if there was anything to find. Look around, there's nothing. Just desert and certain death."

"Geez, sorry Mr. Negative. I thought we should get a move on. There's a settlement a few miles west. We can get there the day after tomorrow if we go fast enough." She checked her map to make sure she was right, then shut off her Pip-Boy screen to keep them somewhat hidden in the night.

"No way, we should go now if it's close enough."

"I'm not sure Stacy's able to walk all the way..."

"I'll carry her."

"Are you strong enough?" Gloria asked, a smirk forming upon her lips. Butch rolled his eyes, "Of course I can. You'll have to carry our bags."

"Fuck that, those things are heavy!"

"You can carry them, stop complaining," He stood up and helped Stacy on her feet, then he turned around and he helped her onto his back. Gloria put her arms through both straps on her backpack, and carried Butch's bag on her left shoulder and Stacy's on her right.

Butch was right, she was strong enough to carry everything, but they were damn heavy.

"Hey, can you get that thing?" She tried to point at the Captain's Sidearm laying on the ground next to the fire, Butch reached for it, and grabbed it before he dropped his girlfriend. She grunted, and held on tighter to him as she apologized.

"Yeah, thanks." He handed it to Gloria. She checked her ammo pouch specifically for alien power modules. She had 389 of them, so she's probably be okay if they were jumped by raiders. Maybe.

~~~

They were halfway to the settlement when they were jumped by some men in red armor, claiming to be part of some sort of Legion. Gloria didn't care, so she shot the leader. When he disintegrated into ash, the five other men immediately attacked them.

Gloria threw down all the bags she was carrying and yelled at Butch to hide. He ran behind a rock and laid Stacy against it.

He held his ground, shoot and yelling to distract their attackers, but they got him pretty good. Gloria punched one guy in the stomach and punched him in the face with her powered fist. His head flew off his body and rolled a ways away.

There were only three men left. Butch already shot one of them.

He was reloading his .44 magnum when one of their attackers bolted from behind another rock and tried to stab him. Butch rolled out of the way and kicked the guy off his feet. Another guy from behind Butch grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and stabbed him in the side.

Gloria shoved the remaining guy off of her and shot the remaining men with increased accuracy, sprinting to Butch as he fell onto one knee, holding his wound to stop the bleeding.

"Okay, okay," She unzipped his Vault jumpsuit and pushed the sleeves off him, then pulled it off, letting it hang loosely around his waist.

"Jesus Christ, we need to get you a doctor."

He didn't say anything, he gasped when Gloria pressed her fingers near the wound, being careful not to touch it.

"Do you have any more Med-X?"

"I only have one left and I need it-"

"Just give it to me you fucking junkie," He hissed out, grabbing his wound. Gloria sighed, then pulled out the last vial, and considered taking it to keep her growing headache away. No, no, stop that. He needed it more than her.

She removed the cover of the needle, then flicked it to get out the air bubbles, then stuck it in his wrist, since it was the only place where she could see a vein. As she emptied the drugs into him, her headache increased.

He stopped groaning after a few minutes. Gloria cut off one of the sleeves of his jumpsuit, then pressed it against the still-bleeding wound.

"I can see why you like this stuff, I can barely feel a thing."

She wanted to snap at him, but her headache stopped her from raising her voice.

Stacy was a little delirious, but she could still walk with Gloria guiding her.

She picked up their bags and put them on, then helped Butch onto his feet and put his arm over her shoulders so she could help him walk. She grabbed Stacy's hand and pulled her along.

This was going to be a long journey.

The weather was becoming more pleasant. It was probably the most positive thing about this situation.

Butch was starting to feel pain again. Stacy was stopping every few minutes to throw up. Gloria had to stop and wait for her to dry heave, then almost pass out.

She could see buildings in the distance. She hoped to God it was inhabited and they were friendly.

~~~

The air was particularly pleasant this evening. Not too hot, not too cold, not too humid, and not too dry.

Genevieve Elizabeth Fredrickson-Carter sat on the front porch of her parent's house, rocking on the rocking chair, sipping lemonade, reading a Pre-War magazine, and listening to the radio.

This was perfect, she mused, flipping the page. She took a sip of her lemonade, then set it down and picked her magazine up once more.

Due to the recent breakout of Legion, there were plenty of refugees passing through. She had her work cut out for her, repairing their old cars and stitching up cuts while her parents were out looking for supplies. Cranston was quiet for the first time in a long time.

She remembered seeing Caesar and the Legion march through when she was very young. That was the last time she's seen them. He hasn't been to Cranston since.

Her mother walked outside, "Gen, time for work."

"Mom, please, it's Elizabeth!" She groaned. Her mom chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Fine, Elizabeth," She laughed.

Lauren Frederickson was a short woman of only five feet, and had the curliest, reddest hair in the West. She was also the most talented doctor in the Legion territory. Or, at least Elizabeth thought so.

Her mother left after the sun went down, and Elizabeth was thinking about going back inside, when she heard a noise.

A woman carrying two people stumbled into town.

"Please, someone help!" She screamed.

Elizabeth stood up, almost knocking the chair over, and ran over to the woman. She helped the woman with white hair into the clinic, then carried the man inside, then laid him down on an examination table.

The woman who carried these two strangers stumbled into the clinic, then laid down on the couch.

She started working on the man. He only had a few scratches and a stab wound. It wasn't infected yet, but it was a little too deep for her to be comfortable. She would call her mom in, but she's spent the past few months trying to prove to her she's a good enough doctor to handle the clinic on her own.

She finished cleaning, disinfecting, and stitching up the wound in about a half-hour.

She moved onto the woman with white hair.

"What's wrong with her...?" Elizabeth gently lifted her face up to look into her eyes and check for a concussion. She coughed, choking out "radiation", and Elizabeth smiled.

Ah, easy enough. She searched through the medicine cabinet and returned with a few doses of RadAway.

"It's going to burn a little bit, but I think you're tough enough to handle it," She smiled as reassuringly as she could.

The woman took the cure like a pro. She didn't scream or even move while she flushed out all the radiation. She helped her up to sit on the couch in the waiting room.

She walked over to the girl who brought everyone inside. She was asleep, sweating heavily and shaking. She mumbled something, then jolted awake, startling Elizabeth with her movement.

She wiped at her eyes, and glared at Elizabeth as she asked "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled. Elizabeth noted she had an unusual accent, one she's never heard before.

"I have a bed you can use. It's for the family members of patients who need someone close by."

"I don't need any more sleep," She sat up and ran her fingers through her short blonde hair.

Elizabeth sat next to the girl, who looked out the window. The sun was almost behind the mountains. She sighed and rested her arm on the arm rest.

She looked peculiar; a certain look to her that made Elizabeth's heart hurt. A broken woman, maybe... no, she couldn't have been a Legion slave, even if she did have the scars and weariness they all seemed to share. No, she had been like this for a different reason. She looked tired, most of all. She had dark circles around her eyes, her shoulders slumped as she caved into herself.

The woman noticed she was staring, and raised an eyebrow. That meant she wanted Elizabeth to speak, right?

She cleared her throat, "I wanted to talk to you about your friends-"

"They're not my friends," She spat, a snarl forming on her lips. Elizabeth nodded, "Right, sorry. Do you have anything you can tell me about them? Any allergies, medical conditions? Their names?"

"The girl's name is Stacy Cole, and the other is Butch DeLoria. That's all I know about them."

"Really? You're all wearing the same jumpsuit."

"We grew up together."

"And you know nothing about them?"

"We weren't the best of buddies," The girl looked back at Elizabeth. She looked her up and down, then looked back out the window.

"Are... you injured?"

"No," She covered her stomach with her arm.

Elizabeth stood up, then turned toward the girl, "You can stay in the room at the end of the hallway. I'll bring dinner up to you if you want any. It's Brahmin and leek soup."

The girl nodded, refusing to take her eyes off the sun as it sank behind the mountains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FALLOUT NEW VEGAS IS SOON


	13. Born Unto Trouble

Elizabeth didn't know how this whole ordeal happened. She was tending to Stacy Cole, checking to see if she wasn't having a negative reaction to the Rad-Away, she went in the back to get some more medicine, catching the blonde girl trying to steal some Med-X.

She dropped the medicine and stared at Elizabeth with fear in her eyes, scared and desperate for a fix, and Elizabeth calmly told her that yes, she could have some, and that she wasn't going to hurt her.

While in her high, the girl told Elizabeth about her time in a Vault.

She was born in the Wasteland, her dad took her into Vault 101 after her mother died and she grew up thinking she was born there. She was the shortest of her age group, and the smartest. She aced all her tests and built numerous (illegal) inventions by the time she was sixteen.

She had a violent streak, picking fight with both the security and what she called a "tunnel snake", which Elizabeth didn't ask what that was. She was 15 she developed depression, anxiety, and an unidentified eating disorder. She mentioned a girl named Amata, her girlfriend, and showed the other a picture that she taped to her Pip-Boy. She told her that things were starting to get better, then her dad up and left the vault.

"Just like that, just... fuckin' left me. For a stupid fucking project that wouldn't have worked without... me. I... fucking saved that shit, and he could've saved himself but nope! Gotta fuckin' be the goddamn hero of the story. That asshole was... He... he died for fucking nothing. Nothing. He could've lived, he could've been happy and alive and... Shit," The girl wiped away her tears and laughed hollowly, "Fuck, why the hell am I crying? Goddamn it. I... I hate him. He... He was so damn selfish too. I hate him."

Elizabeth rubbed her back gently, "You turned to drugs to stop the pain."

"I fuckin... hate doctors. You all sound so fuckin' arrogant. I hate all of you."

Elizabeth guessed that the girl's dad was also a doctor, and his professionalism got in the way of fatherly love.

"And what about you, huh? What's your story?"

She smiled, placing her hands in her lap, "I'm a doctor and a repairwoman. Some things get in the way of others, but that's ok. Um... let's see. There's nothing too special about me! Just a regular girl in a regular town."

"No, no way. There's always something impressive about people." Gloria stared at the roof as she spoke, and Elizabeth sighed, "You're not the only one who thinks so."

"Oh? You got a boyfriend or something."

The thought of having a boyfriend made Elizabeth sick. "No."

"Good. Boys are the worst. Are you gay?"

"...No."

The other girl obviously didn't believe her. Elizabeth didn't believe herself, either. So she tried again, "I'm engaged to a man, Christopher Bayer, if you... wanted to know that. Our wedding is in three days."

"Gross."

Elizabeth giggled; finally, someone agreed with her.

Even with her attempts at dissuading Chris, he still pursued her. He was persistent, she'll give him that, but she did not want to be with him. She didn't want to be with any men, ever. She twisted the ring on her finger, hoping one day she'll be able to cast it off into the desert and never see it again. But that day wasn't coming anytime soon.

"Hey, how about you kill him?" The girl offered. Her speech was slurred, but Elizabeth heard her clearly. She gulped, shaking her head, "I'm not a murderer."

"I am."

"You don't look like one."

The girl sat up and stared at the floor, "Alright."

Elizabeth didn't know what she meant, so she didn't reply.

"It's... I don't know. It's hard to pour your heart out to someone, much less a doctor, but... I trust you."

"Thanks." Elizabeth smiled at the other, but she didn't smile back. Her eyes were glazed over. It seems like she was too high to speak now. Elizabeth didn't mind, so she decided to do the same.

"The first person I ever loved was a girl named Daisy. She was a trader from... hm... somewhere. I don't remember. She died a few days after I kissed her. Hung in the town square for killing someone."

The girl blinked, processing her words, but didn't attempt to reply.

"I killed someone too."

The other girl hummed, "We all have."

"I'm a... I'm a doctor. I can't kill anyone, that's my job. To heal, to keep people from dying."

"What happened?"

"I was seventeen... He was bleeding so much and I froze and..." She gulped, "he died."

The girl placed a clammy hand on Elizabeth's, squeezing gently to comfort her. The action was thoughtful, but she pulled her hand away. The girl didn't protest.

"I learned that I'm afraid of death."

"Aren't we all?"

Elizabeth blinked, "I suppose you're right-"

"I'm not. I want to die."

Her heart sank. She didn't want to, but she could understand. The girl looked so bedraggled, it was a wonder she was still alive.

"I think I'm starting to sober up. Don't tell Butch or Stacy what I told you."

"Are you going to be okay?"

She nodded, "I've made it this far."

Her words weren't reassuring, but she couldn't dwell on that while Stacy wandered into the room and looked at the both of them before waving absentmindedly and plopping on the couch between the two.

"Get back to bed." The girl told Stacy, and Elizabeth stood up to check on Butch.

"Don't tell me what to do." Stacy snapped back.

"Holy shit. Good job, you finally stood up for yourself. Kind of." The girl said, and Elizabeth smiled. For how sick Stacy was, it was impressive she was walking around.

The night was spent making sure Butch wasn't bleeding, and pondering the events of the past twenty-four hours.

There was something about those kids, the Vault Rejects, who stumbled into town; she knew that these people were special.

The punk with the nice hair was a charmer, he was handsome, and had a certain way with words. He's talked her mother into letting them stay in their house. He's not too bad at cooking, and he's secretly a sweetheart underneath all the pomade and leather.

The girl with the silver hair is the nicest girl she's ever met. She's not too bright, but she's always offering her help for everything. Elizabeth decided that she wanted to be more like her.

Then, there was the girl with the scarred knuckles and the shaved head and the hurt in her eyes.

She's the most beautiful girl Elizabeth has ever seen.

Her eyes are a dazzling green that look both otherworldly and all too human. Elizabeth has tried many times to ask what this girl was so afraid of, but the girl just gives her a smirk and a wave of her hand, and says "It's nothing" with that strange and beautiful accent and Elizabeth knows there's something. There is always something.

She haunts her in her dreams. The girl with the harsh look and red lips smiling at her, telling her that she's the only one for her.

Elizabeth doesn't even know her name.

And the girl doesn't know hers.

She decides, the day before her wedding, she should at least know her name.

Elizabeth's avoidant personality disorder gets in the way of many things, but she sure as hell won't let her get out of knowing that girl's name.

She barges into her room, heart pounding, body begging her to leave and never look the girl in the eyes again, clenching her fists and asking "What's your name?"

The girl sits up, hair a mess, mumbling out "Gloria Hill."

"Gloria Hill." Elizabeth repeats.

"Yeah." She says slowly, looking Elizabeth up and down, "Why?"

"My name's Elizabeth. Well, I mean technically it's Rosalina but that's too fancy so I just go by Elizabeth."

Gloria nodded, letting Elizabeth stammer on and finally interrupted, asking "Aren't you getting married today?"

Elizabeth stopped, mouth open, then she shut it and nodded solemnly, "Don't remind me."

"I told you to just kill him."

"That's-! ...Not something I can do willingly."

Gloria shrugged, "I'll see what I can do." She rolled back over and promptly went back to bed.

What the heck was she talking about?

Suppressing her anxiety the best she could, Elizabeth exited the room and returned to her mother to try to fit into her wedding dress.

Being six-foot-three and over two-hundred pounds of pure muscle, there weren't many dresses Elizabeth could easily fit into. No one around was a seamstress, so the best dress they could make was out of bedsheets and ribbons. It looked okay for what little they had to use, and Lauren was in a hurry to marry her daughter off.

Not out of cruelty, but out of necessity. Christopher's family was descended from the founder of the town of Cranston, and the richest family in the small town. A clinic and repair shop could only bring in so much money from people who are healthy and don't break weapons easily anymore.

Elizabeth's heart was beating so fast when her father told them that Christopher was already at the church. Unlike marriages from the Old World, weddings now were done quickly, but still had that Old World charm to it. She followed her parents to the isle, where Christopher was waiting for her along with the priest.

In her peripheral vision, there was a dull blue figure standing out among the rest. Gloria, Butch, and Stacy had managed to make it after all. The thought calmed Elizabeth a tiny bit, but her parents ushered her forward towards her almost-husband.

Standing in front of Christopher, she did her best to avoid eye contact, sick to her stomach. This was it. This was the end of her freedom.

"Christopher and Rosalina Bayer," the priest stated, paraphrasing the speech to make it even shorter, "these two are to be wedded. Any objections?"

Silence, other than the rapid beating of Elizabeth's heart, and the priest continued. "Do you, Christopher, take Rosalina as your wife?"

"Yes," he smiled at Elizabeth. She avoided his eyes.

"And do you, Rosalina take Christopher as your husband?"

"...Yes," She really couldn't turn back now.

"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride."

Elizabeth leaned down to his level, and he placed a chaste kiss upon her lips.

___

After the short ceremony, Chris leads her into their house and locks the bedroom door behind them. Chris waits for Elizabeth to calm herself before asking her what she would like to do, but Elizabeth starts first.

"Do we... I-"

"Do we what?"

"Have sex? Isn't that what married people do?"

Chris smiled, surprisingly calm, "We don't have to if you don't want to."

Her panic started to die down. She stared at her hands, fingers rubbing against the soft material of her dress and willing herself to not rip it on accident.

"Rosalina?"

"Elizabeth." She answered, without missing a beat. Chris chuckled, moving to the bed and sitting next to her.

"Elizabeth, are you okay?"

"Not... really." She finally let herself sob, "I have to get out of here. I can't be married to... to a man. It's disgusting."

"What do you mean?" His voice was calm. Elizabeth froze.

"I'm a lesbian." She started, "I don't like men, at all, in any way. I can't believe I agreed to this marriage." She wiped at her eyes.

"I... I understand. Elizabeth, I want you to be happy."

"Do you?"

He knelt beside her, "Of course I do."

"Then... Then let me get out of Cranston, out of Arizona. Please, Christopher, I can't stay here anymore."

He stared at her for a few moments before nodding, "Yeah, yeah okay. Let's get you out of that dress. I'll get you some clothes I think you'll fit."

He returned with a simple grey t-shirt, blue jeans, boots, and a brown vest that fit Elizabeth perfectly. She was rather surprised at this, but he explained that these clothes belonged to a relative who was as tall and buff as she was.

"I guess this is goodbye?" Christopher asked as she stood at the back door, backpack slung over her shoulder and a brand new 9mm pistol strapped to her thigh.

"Yeah... I'm sorry Chris-"

"No, don't be, I want you to be happy, Ros- I mean, Elizabeth. I love you."

Elizabeth smiled, "You're not that bad as I thought you were."

"Thanks... I guess." He returned her smile, wishing her well and closing the door behind her when she left.

Elizabeth took a breath full of the hot desert air, finally feeling free at last.


	14. Courier

The Happy Days Homeless Shelter was a small building out by New Reno, in the remnants of a schoolhouse. Elise Geroux started this facility when she was twenty, and had managed to make quite a name for herself.

And With Happy Days as a success, Maria and Ray moved from their manor to the shelter to help Elise with her job.

___

The first set of troublemakers were a small gang of around five or six. Bikers, from the looks of their leather jackets and obnoxiously loud motor bikes parked outside the building. One such Biker was a curious woman named Ace Sanchez.

She slept on a couch in the main entertainment room instead of in a bed, snoring softly with an arm thrown over her eyes and legs crossed to make room for whoever was sitting on the couch with her.

Around three in the morning, Elise was making her way through security rounds, making sure no one was stealing anything. She found Ace and gently roused the gang member, who gave her an easy, sleepy smile when she awoke.

"Buenos días, Miss Geroux."

"Bonjour, Miss Sanchez," Elise bit back in her own language, and Ace chuckled, "Yeah, yeah I got it. Sorry, not really used to speaking English."

"Your accent sure is better than mine, and I've been speaking English for around... thirty years."

"Impressive. My family's one of those 'keep your roots alive' ones, so we speak Spanish with each other. It's probably not even the same Spanish from before the War."

"Is that why you've joined a gang? To rebel against them?"

Elise managed to wipe that smile off of Ace's face, and she blinked a few times before sighing, "Yeah, I guess."

"I've seen enough kids around here to know what's happened. I'm not going to pry anymore unless you want to talk about it. That's what I'm here for."

"What, were you a therapist before leaving wherever you're from?"

"Actually, I was a translator for tourists in Baton Rouge for about three years. I was one of the only people in the city to speak both French and English. But I was run out of town by the mayor and his now-dead wife."

"What the hell? Why?"

"I killed their son."

Ace hummed, nodding, "Yeah, that'll piss anyone off."

"2279's almost here, huh?" Elise said after a moment of silent. Ace nodded, "Yeah, seems like time's just flying by."

"What is your gang actually doing here, Ace?"

Ace gulped, then looked away from Elise, "Well, I just... you know... I mean. We're not in any danger or anything. We just needed a place to stay while I... recover from surgery."

Elise nodded, "Ah, okay."

"I'm transgender."

"I... know that, Ace. So am I."

Ace blushed, "Sorry, I mean, I didn't, I-"

"Ace, relax. I'm not offended."

"Good, neither am I."

Elise sighed, gently patting the other girl's leg, "I'll let you get back to sleep. Bonne nuit."

"Yeah, um, buenas noches." She cleared her throat and closed her eyes again. Elise stood up and began to patrol the building again.

___

Elizabeth stumbled into the Shelter three years after Ace began working there. January of 2281 was spent watching over Elise's newest patron.

Elizabeth managed to get a job with the Mojave Express and needed a place to stay while she waited for new packages to run.

She had excitedly told the caretakers there about Hopesville and the canyon around it, explaining the NCR supply lines running through and the people around making it their home.

"I used to live near a Legion supply line," Was the only information they got out of her. She seemed to keep to herself, wanting others to talk about themselves more.

While Ace was into girls, she wasn't particularly attracted to Elizabeth. She decided that they should be friends, and Elizabeth happily agreed.

___

In September 2281, Elizabeth got a job delivering a chip to New Vegas. Ace, having developed a friendship, accompanied her to Primm to pick up the package. Elizabeth received her contract and the package, then was sent out to deliver it as soon as possible.

Out near the highway, Elizabeth stopped and pulled the delivery out of her pocket, then studied the contract.

"What is it?" Ace drawled. Elizabeth hummed, "Looks like it's a poker chip made out of platinum," she eyed the chip, looking it over and feeling the smooth, cold metal between her fingers.

"Platinum used to be really expensive back before the War, you better be careful where you flash that thing."

Elizabeth laughed, "I'm pretty sure no one's gonna kill me for a chip."

They split off at the highway, Ace returning to Happy Days and Elizabeth on her way to New Vegas.

___

The Mojave Desert was a mystical place at night. As the sun lowers behind the mountains, there's a certain softness that it plains the sky; pink and blue and purple fade together in a way that can take your breath away in mere moments.

Coyotes and rattlesnakes emerge from their dens, searching for prey. The night begins to cool the boiling landscape and various insects make their songs heard all throughout the night.

It's peaceful.

Elizabeth's footfalls are quiet despite her hulking frame and rattling gear, stirring up the nearby wildlife and dust settles around her, sticking to her dark, sweaty skin. Just a few more miles and she's done with her job.

The lights of Vegas are in view.

She never got to see them up close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wwwwwwwwwwwwwww


	15. This was the End

"You got what you were after, now pay up." Someone's voice rang in her ears.

"You're crying in the rain, pally." Someone else spoke.

Her eyes finally opened after she was out for a few minutes, trying to readjust her vision.

Her hands were tied. Struggling was useless, as the knot was too tight or maybe she was too weak from whatever happened.

"Look who's finally waking up over here," Said a third voice.

She blinked a couple of times, then she looked up to see a man in checkered suit and two Great Khans on either side of him. The man in the suit took a hit of his cigarette, dropped it, and put it out with his foot. She blinked a few more times, then she started to panic.

"Time to cash out."

"Would you get it over with?" The man on his right said. The man in the checkered suit silenced him, "Maybe Khans kill people without looking them in the face, but I ain't a fink, dig?"

Her heart dropped.

He reached in his coat pocket and removed the platinum chip, and holding it in front of her, "You've made your last delivery, kid," He sighed and put it back into his coat pocket, "Sorry you got twisted up in this scene," he pulls out a gun. She glances at it, then back to him.

"From where you're kneeling it must seem like an 18-carat run of bad luck," He aimed the gun at her head, "But, truth is...the game was rigged from the start."

Her heart skipped a beat, then he pulled the trigger the world going black.

So. This was it? Can't say it was the worst thing that happened to her.

Maybe, when she was sixteen. Yeah, the day she met that trader from New Reno. Elizabeth kissed her right on the mouth after a first date, and the next day the trader was burned in the town center for theft.

Or maybe it was the day she ran away from home. The only place she knew.

It didn't matter.

This was the end.


	16. Rebirth (2)

The Courier that lost her way and regained her strength through dead and rebirth.

Elizabeth awoke a week later with a nasty scar on her forehead and a splitting headache. The sweat and dirt and blood that had soaked through her very core was washed away; a clean slate.

She remembered nothing from her past. Only her name, her job, her number.

Six. An even number, not exactly symmetrical like eight, but it was good enough.

Maybe it was an unlucky number. Three times in a row, six-six-six, was the devil's number.

Or maybe it was a lucky number. To wash away her memories of a probably-painful life.

Or maybe, just maybe, it had no meaning. This was all just a coincidence.

The warm water washing over her in Doc Mitchell's shower relaxed her tense muscles, but still straining as she was nearly bent over to fit her head under the shower head. The memories of kisses and fire and tears and broken hearts remained in her thoughts like a dull knife splitting her open, her heart aching for something, anything, to remember.

But there was nothing. Just darkness, a barrel of a gun and a man in a checkered suit. A ceiling fan, her own pitiful reflection.

She shut off the water and dried herself off, changing back into her freshly washed vest, t-shirt, and jeans. Blood no longer staining the front of her shirt, bleached white and grey. There were a few remaining stains on her jeans, mostly from dirt embedded so deeply into the fabric it looked like it was meant to be there.

The brown leather vest, on the other hand, was the dirtiest of them all. Nothing could clean leather these days, not in an area as remote as Goodprings. Doc Mitchell was, as his name suggests, a doctor, not a dry cleaner. The most he could do was run it in the washer and wish for the best. There was still a bit of blood on the collar, on the right side of the flap facing outward, brushing against the Mojave Express patch sewn on with careful fingers.

A gentle knock on the bathroom door snapped her out of her thoughts, a muffled "Elizabeth? Are you done?" called out, and she gulped and opened the door and nodded, avoiding Doc Mitchell's eyes.

"I'm fine." She mumbled.

"Just making sure you're not hurt... or worse."

She nodded, shuffling out the door and followed him to the front door. He handed her a bag and a strange device, smiling warmly, "Thought I'd give you this. A Pip-Boy. I don't need it anymore, and you just might."

She blinked, and let him put it on her arm. It was a tight fit since she was much more muscular than he was, but he reassured her she'd get used it.

"Where... do I go?"

"I'd try talking with Sunny Smiles at the salon. She'll show you what's what around the Wasteland."

Nodding, she thanked the good doctor with all her heart, and slipped a shaking hand around the doorknob, trying to will away her anxiety, and twisted the doorknob and exited the house.

The light blinded her, and her head throbbed, almost making her pass out.

Goodsprings was a small town, with just a saloon, a general store and a few houses. It was charming, and had that old west feel to it, which she decided she liked. She walked into the saloon, and a dog growled at her. She took a step back, unsure if the dog was going to attack her or not.

Sunny Smiles, she assumed, told the dog to knock it off, and asked her to follow her outside. She taught her how to shoot with a varmint rifle, and she remembered she liked smaller guns much, much more.

Sunny offered her to help her clear out some geckos from the wells nearby.

It was easy enough. Elizabeth slashed right through them and wiped the blood off her knife on the gecko corpses. Sunny was impressed, and Elizabeth was secretly thankful. She instructed Elizabeth to find xander root by the schoolhouse and broc flower by the graveyard.

At the graveyard, Elizabeth felt a little uneasy. She had presumed to be killed here a few days ago.

She realized she was afraid of death.

She shot the bloatflies buzzing around and slowly walked to the shallow, dug up grave she was buried in.

Staring at her own grave, she felt chill run down her spine, and an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She quickly picked all the broc flowers in the cemetery and rushed back to Sunny.

Sunny taught her how to make things from plants she found all over the Mojave and the perks and consequences of some of these concoctions. Then she left after telling her to meet someone named Trudy.

Elizabeth wandered back into town after a few minutes of staring into the distance. She could see Primm from here, which was where she was supposed to go.

When the sun was setting, Elizabeth was feeling drained, physically and emotionally.

She felt like curling up into a little ball and sleeping for three years.

Three years...

It seemed like something happened three years ago, something really, really important.

A pair of green eyes filled with both happiness and pain, flashed into her mind, then they were gone.

Elizabeth sighed and ran her hands through her tangled hair. She pulled out her knife and cut most of it off. She let go of her hair and watched it float away in the wind, feeling just a little bit relieved.

She stood up and dusted herself off, then wandered back into Goodsprings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually wrote this chapter when i started anxiety meds and i took some benadryl & couldn't feel my face? it was wild


	17. New Love

Elizabeth never actually wanted to be a courier.

She could have been something else; could have joined the army, or became a wandering doctor, a teacher, a bartender. Yet she chose to be a courier. It felt right at the time.

As a courier, you sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. Kill or be killed, as they say; and Elizabeth didn't want to kill. She was a pacifist by nature, but she learned that it was necessary to survive.

She's terrified of that. She doesn't know what she has or hasn't done before she was shot in the head.

But the world around her wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. On her journey to Primm, she was only ambushed by a group of geckos, which weren't a problem for her.

She was afraid of killing people. People who feel and think and love and breathe. It was horrifying to take that away from someone with a slash of her knife or a single bullet.

She gnawed on her bottom lip as an NCR soldier warned her that Primm was dangerous, that some convicts from a prison had taken over the town, and she went on ahead since danger wasn't something that completely registered in her head.

She crossed the overpass and was almost shot again.

She dived behind a car and checked her 9mm to make sure it was loaded. She poked her head out to get a good look at the enemy. There were only a couple of convicts, so she could probably take them.

Just a couple of shots later, all the escaped convicts were dead. She never realized that she had a steady hand and a good aim.

She searched through all of their pockets and came up with just a few caps and some ammo, then pocketed them and walked to the Mojave Express office.

There was another courier lying dead against the front of the building. She closed his eyes and searched him.

It was a contract, like her own; he was supposed to deliver fuzzy dice to the Strip. Nothing to be killed for.

She finally walked into the Vikki and Vance Hotel, and was stopped by Johnson Nash, who ran the Mojave Express office there in Primm. She asked him about her lost package.

"I'll tell you whatever I can. Do you have a delivery order you can show me?" He asked her. She pulled the order out of her pockets, and handed it to him. He read it, and gave it back to her.

"You're talking about one of them packages. That job had strange written all over it. But we couldn't turn down the caps."

"What was strange about it?" She asked, putting it back in her pocket.

"That cowboy robot had us hire six couriers. Each was carrying something a little different. A pair of dice, a chess piece, that kind of stuff. Last word I had from the office, it looked like payment had been received for the other five jobs. Guess it was just your chip that didn't make it," he then sighed and looked a little irritated, "first deadbeat we hired to do the job canceled. Hope a storm from the Divide skins him alive. Well, that's where you came in."

"He canceled?"

"Yeah, got this look when he saw you next down on the Courier list. His expression turned right around, asked me if your name was for real. I said sure, as lack of rain, you were still kicking. Then he turned down the job, just like that. I asked if he was sure, it was good money. No, let 'Courier Six' carry the package, that's what he said- like that Mojave'd sort you out or something. Then he just up and walked out."

"Do you know who he was? Where he went?" She felt uneasy.

"No idea. Sounds like you two had a history for him to act like that. And turn down the money, too. Hope he didn't see any trouble in that package of yours. Maybe he thought your name was bad luck. Not for me to say."

"I wouldn't remember him if we had met. I'm looking for some men who stole my package. Some Khans and a man in a checkered suit. Did they pass this way?"

"Well that you mention it, a few nights back on of the townies was out scavenging for supplies. He said he saw a fella with a daisy suit come through with some of them Great Khan misfits. They was talking about a chip."

She nodded, "One of those men shot me. I need to know the best way to get to them."

"Well for that your best bet is going to be talking to Deputy Beagle. Since they came to town he was keeping a good bit on notes on them, and he was slinking around Bison Steve when your pretty-boy friend came through. He may have heard where they were going."

He explained to her that he was in the hotel across the way, at the Bison Steve.

She found him after fighting a lot of those escaped convicts.

The deputy was a coward and extremely arrogant, and he gave Elizabeth some really bad vibes. After she cut his ties, and met him outside the casino, she asked where that man in the checkered suits was.

He told her that they were talking about going to Novac through Nipton to meet a contact there.

She made a mark on the map on her Pip-Boy on both of those locations, and left Primm in a hurry. The town was shit and she wasn't tired enough to stay and rest a while.

In the distance, she could see a large structure. She decided against her better judgment to check it out.

___

It was called the Mojave Outpost, controlled by the NCR. Just a place where the caravans wanted passage into Nevada from California.

She walked into one of the buildings, curiosity getting the better of her.

It was also rather dull. Just a bar with a grumpy tender and shitty wine. Nonetheless, Elizabeth bought some and sat down to at least try to enjoy it.

It was then when she saw her...

Time seemed to stop as she stared at this unnatural beauty sitting next to her.

She was drunk and pretty angry, but that made her even more beautiful. She had red hair that was tied back and a cowboy hat and a very freckled face, and Elizabeth instantly fell in love.

She must have been staring because the girl scowled at her.

"Looking for trouble?" She asked.

Elizabeth was silent for a little bit. "Uh... I mean, no, only looking around," She stuttered.

"Well, keep those eyes up and turning- or I'll set 'em spinning. Got no time for gawkers... or anyone looking for something I ain't selling."

She was either really mad or really drunk, probably both. "Are you all right?" Elizabeth asked.

"All right? No, I'm not all right. Drinking to forget, and it's only getting me mad instead. Whiskey always gets my temper up- now more than ever," She took another few drinks of her drink, then refilled it, "Drinking used to cause all sorts of trouble back West- before I punched enough people, that is, and they learned to lay when the whiskey hit."

"Back West?" She asked, turning her body towards the angry woman.

"Yeah, if you couldn't tell, I'm not from around here and I'm not NCR. I run a caravan... or did. Lost my caravan heading north, the driver burned to ask- and they didn't even take the cargo, the just burned that, too."

Elizabeth took another sip of her wine, "Might have been Fiends, they're crazy like that."

"My guess is Legion, they're trying to cut NCR's supply line... and the Mojave Outpost is proof. Got us locked up tighter than a New Vegas virgin," She finished her glass and began to pour another cup when the bartender demanded money. She sighed and handed her a few caps, and then poured another drink. "No caravans in, out and just try arguing with Jackson about it. 'Roads aren't safe,' he says. No shit, you washed-out old fuckup, I didn't need a Brotherhood Scribe to tell me that."

Elizabeth laughed, "That's a good impersonation."

"Yeah, he's been with NCR so long all he can see is the worst outcome of everything, so he doesn't do anything. Jackson won't let me head north, it's not safe... and even though my caravan's gone, my caravan papers are keeping me here. So if you came here for work, my advice? Go find the Crimson Caravan branch, south of Vegas. They can help you out."

Elizabeth took a large swig of her wine. "Anything you can tell me about the Outpost?"

"You're looking at it. It's a watering hole without much to brag about. It's like a Brahmin drive gone wrong- supposed to be a gate north, but you come here, you get caught in the pen. Better to head back home. If you don't have a gun and a will, don't matter much what you do when you reach here, except stare at the fucking monument outside."

"That fucking monument outside?" She asked, scolding herself for cursing.

"Don't even tell me you missed it coming in. It's like NCR showing its dick to all the East. If the Republic out as much effort into protecting the East as they put into those two asinine giants outside, then they'd be worth that monument. Statues of two men shaking hands covered in blood don't seem to be nothing to brag about."

She didn't recall them being covered in blood, but that could also be because she has the worst memory on earth. "Covered in blood?"

"I'm speaking figurative, isn't any blood on their damn hands. Course, when Caesar comes walking through here, there'll be blood for real. And after the blood dries in the sun, he'll melt that piece of Jet-induced sculpture down and reshape it into a bull. Which by my reckoning is making up for a deficiency of his. But no matter what the state of his pecker, he's sure giving the West a good fucking."

"So, what are the statues supposed to be?"

"One's a ranger, one's an NCR trooper, supposed to represent unification of West and East... or some such shit. As far as those two iron lovebirds go, they've got more spine that you'll see in a year from the NCR government."

She chuckled, then finished her glass of wine. "Well, I'll have to be going then. I'll go talk to the Crimson Caravan and... thanks."

She patted Elizabeth on the shoulder, and smiled. "You're welcome. By the way, I never got your name."

"Elizabeth."

"Cass, nice to meet you." She held out her hand, and she shook it. Her grip was strong, and her hand was very warm, fitting perfectly with Elizabeth's larger one. She smiled and let her hand go when she realized she had held on longer than needed.

Cass smiled and wished her luck on the trail, and Elizabeth walked to the exit, glancing back before leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm actually super mega gay for cass lmao


	18. The Night

(It's a harder way to heaven on the rope you swing, and the night ain't filled with gentle things.)

The radio droned on in the back of her head as the anxiety nearly consumed her. Night time in the middle of nowhere was not the most reassuring places to be, even if she was stronger than most people in the world.

Nipton had shaken her to the bone. Seeing those men nailed to crosses, the man with the creepy voice vaguely threatening her had caused yet another panic attack, and it took all of her (quite impressive) strength to run away as fast as possible.

She ran until she couldn't see the smoke from the burning fires in Nipton anymore, and the sun had started to set. It was starting to get a bit cooler, and Elizabeth finally stopped and collapsed. She gasped for breath and coughed. She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the night sky.

She guessed she always thought the sky always looked amazing. Whether it was day or night, cloudy or clear, the sky looked amazing. The War had removed a lot of things that caused pollution, so the sky cleared up and it was always a vibrant blue color. The Mojave isn't as dry as people think, and there are usually fluffy clouds all over.

The night sky was even prettier than the day. There was a blue fog of stars across the sky, for unknown reasons, that glowed brighter than the moon sometimes.

The fog put Elizabeth at ease and she closed her eyes. She breathed in, and out, trying to calm her breaths. Her heart was still beating a million beats per minute, and she felt like she was going to pass out.

She ran her hand through her hair, and stopped for a moment when she touched the scar on her forehead.

Sometimes, she thought she wasn't real. That all this was just a dream. That she would wake up and she would be with some family that loved her. Parents, siblings, whatever.

But some things brought her back to reality. She was shot in the head and robbed of something, and she wanted to know why.

It was moments like these that remind her that she's alive. Sometimes, she remembered, she didn't want to be. That a pain in her chest of a forgotten memory made her want to give up and die.

She breathed in and out again, and put her hands by her side. Sleeping out in the middle of the desert isn't the smartest thing, but Elizabeth wasn't a smart girl and, at the end of the day, she really needed a moment to rest.

___

When Elizabeth wasn't trying to figure out the meaning of life and thinking about things that people in her situation shouldn't really be thinking about, she was off helping people.

She had already agreed to help Manny Vargas stop the ghouls coming into Novac in exchange for information on the man in the checkered suit.

Elizabeth remembered that she liked ghouls. They always had a story to tell, and Elizabeth would let them tell her everything they needed to get off her chest. She was, after all, a doctor.

She finally put two and two together to remember some things about her past. She was a doctor, and also could fix a gun in no time. So, she was also a repairwoman.

It would explain a lot, but not enough. She tried not to think about it when she walked into the basement of the REPCONN facility.

She discovered that she didn't like Nightkin. And she discovered that she liked getting hit by rebar clubs even less.

Still, she persevered. With a shot there and a hacked off head of another Nightkin there, she was able to use a Stimpack on her arm and move onto the next room.

When she cleared out the basement of anything that would threaten any of the ghouls upstairs, she was told to find some other things to help build a rocket.

Because, naturally, there's a lot of spare rocket parts laying around in the Wasteland.

It was around one in the morning when she wandered back into Novac, and decided to ask Manny if he was willing to give her the information she needed. She kept her hand on her gun as she walked up the stairs to the sniper's nest, but Manny wasn't there. Instead, there was another person.

"Goddamn it! Don't sneak up on me like that. What do you want?" he asked, pointing his gun at Elizabeth. She drew her gun and then stopped herself.

It's okay Eli, she thought to herself, he's not going to hurt you.

He lowered his gun when she didn't answer him.

"Are... you all right?" He asked. She sucked in a few deep breaths, then nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. I was looking for Manny."

"He's not here."

Well, obviously, Elizabeth thought again, rolling her eyes.

"I think you'd better leave," He said. Elizabeth stood up straighter, attempting to use her height to at least not look like a scared child.

She nodded, still tightly gripping her gun, and turned around to leave, but he pulled her back.

She retaliated and smacked his arm back, and he held his arms up in surrender.

"I just wanted to ask if you would do something for me."

She gulped, "What is it?"

"This town... nobody looks me straight in the eye anymore."

"What do you want me to do?" She asked curiously.

"I want you to find something out for me. I don't know if there's anything to find, but I need someone to try. My wife was taken from our home by Legion slavers one night while I was on watch. They knew when to come and what route to take, and they only took Carla. Someone set it up. I don't know who."

"You're trying to track down your wife?"

"My wife's dead. I want the son of a bitch who sold her."

"What do I do if I find this person?"

"Bring him out in front of the nest here while I'm on duty. I work nights. I'll give you my NCR beret to put on. It'll be our signal, so I know you're standing with him, and I'll take care of the rest. I need to do this myself."

She nodded, "I'll do what I can do to help you out."

"Good. I'll make it worth your while," He took off his beret and handed it to her, "Wear this when you're with him in front of the dinosaur." She cautiously reached out and took it from him, a little bit relieved he didn't try to grab at her.

"And one more thing, we shouldn't speak again. Not until it's over."

___

"Well, welcome to you. You look tired from the road, why don't you relax a spell, let this fine town take care of you?" Jeannie May Crawford said as Elizabeth walked into the hotel office. She needed a room to stay in since she was exhausted.

And, naturally, she didn't have enough caps.

Something, in the back of her head, told her to look in Jeannie May's safe after hours. While she isn't normally a crook, she has a knack for unlocking things that aren't supposed to be unlocked.

She waited until 12 AM to break into the front office and vaulted over the counter and landed quietly on her feet. She unlocked the safe and dug around it.

At the bottom, there was a receipt for Carla Boone and her unborn child.

"Well, shoot," Elizabeth said, reading the page, then putting it in the back pocket of her jeans. Jeannie May didn't seem like the kind of person to do something like that.

She had woken Jeannie May up and brought her in front of the dinosaur, and put on Boone's beret and closed her eyes. She heard a gunshot and a thud next to her. She didn't bother checking to see if she was still alive.

Elizabeth walked back to Boone, who looked more forlorn than he usually did. "That's it then. How did you know?"

"I found the bill of sale." She pulled it out of her pocket to show him, but he only crumpled it up and threw it on the ground.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It'd be like them to keep paperwork. Here," Ye rummaged around in his pockets and handed me a few hundred caps, "This is all I can give. I think our dealings are done here."

"What will you do after this?"

"I don't know. I won't be staying, I know that. Don't see much point in anything right now, except hunting legionaries. Maybe I'll wander, like you."

Elizabeth smiled, "Come with me. Let's go after the Legion."

"You don't want to do that."

"We'll kill more with the two of us."

"Yeah, that might be true. And that's reason enough for me to take you up on it, I suppose. But this isn't gonna end well," He sighed, then strapped his gun onto his back. "Fine. Let's get out of here."

Elizabeth knew in the back of her head that this guy wasn't going to hurt her.

They were by the Novac sign when Elizabeth looked behind her at the sniper.

"I'm Elizabeth, by the way."

"Craig Boone," he replied.

She took off his beret and threw it back to him, and he put it back on his head in complete silence.

___

"The guy you're looking for, Benny, he was traveling with some members from my old gang. They were going to Boulder City," Manny said. Elizabeth rubbed her tired eyes, and yawned.

"Why?"

"No clue. I know Benny hadn't paid up yet. Maybe that was where they were supposed to get square."

"Okay, so where's Boulder City?"

"It's straight up Route 93 from here. Just keep following the road north."

She mumbled a "thank you", then exited the gift shop downstairs and met up with Boone. He looked tired, but not as tired as her.

After she recruited him, she still had to help those ghouls at the REPCONN place. She did, eventually, get the things they needed for the rocket, and finally got rid of them.

She ran her hand through her hair, pushing her messy bangs back, and they flopped back into place, hiding the scar on her forehead.

Naturally, Boone noticed it, but didn't say anything.

"I was shot in the head after being robbed," She explained. He nodded.

"That's why I am looking for that Benny guy."

He still didn't say anything. It was probably for the best.

"I guess I'll go get a room from... someone." She mumbled.

She rented a room from that man at the gift shop (after he pressured her into buying a dinosaur souvenir.)

She slumped into her room after sending Boone to his. She really needed to sleep. She flopped onto the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

___

Traveling with Boone wasn't too bad. He was quiet and didn't sleep too much. Which was a good thing since Elizabeth was too afraid to fall asleep around him.

Still, she didn't know why. She guessed she still had a subconscious fear of... something. She really didn't want to think about it.

So, she stayed awake while Boone slept. He didn't look angry while he was asleep, which was an interesting thing to see.

Elizabeth took her eyes off her companion and looked up at the glowing blue fog in the sky.

She leaned against the broken building they were using as a hideout for the night and sighed.

She really wanted to fall asleep. They have been walking for three days, and not once had she fallen asleep.

This subconscious fear is really getting to her. She desperately didn't want to be afraid of anyone who looked at her wrong, but she was. She was so freaking scared all the time and she was really freaking sick of it.

She closed her eyes and punched the ground. Screw anxiety. It was a useless feeling anyway.

But it consumed her.

She passed the hours by being lost in thought. She didn't have anything to remember, so she made up her past.

She was happy, with a good job and parents and a girlfriend who loved her. She was happy. She decided to become a courier, so she had to leave. She's still dating that girl. Her name was Emily, and she has long brown hair and hazel eyes and she's handy with a knife, and she thinks she's immortal.

Boone woke up at around 5 AM, and Elizabeth helped him pack up.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" He asked.

"I'd...rather not," She paused, then scratched her arm and resumed packing.

He didn't protest, telling her to sleep, that it's bad for her. She liked him for that.

She appreciated that he didn't pry into her business like so many other people did. They always want to know everything about you, and sometimes you just can't tell anyone something.

They walked in silence to Boulder City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if u were wondering. the song at the very beginning of the chapter was The Night Pt. 2 by The Builders and the Butchers. idk if u can post links in descriptions but here it is?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncsXAv2ndp0


	19. Blue Fog

Veronica Santangelo was another lesbian who loved dresses, but she was short and chubby and slightly mischievous. Her childlike nature was endearing, even if her love for punching things was kind of scary. Elizabeth didn't mind though, she was happy to have another member of her little team.

Team Six, Veronica offered as the team name, and Elizabeth shrugged. Boone was too grumpy to give an opinion, so the vote was a landslide.

Veronica was chatting with Elizabeth about her role in the Brotherhood of Steel before Boone pushed both of them down behind an old military truck and peered around it, looking through the scope on his gun. "You could have warned us," Veronica huffed, and Boone waved her off.

He took four shots, then stood up, "Legion raiding party."

"Seriously?" Veronica gasped.

"Who were they looking for?" Elizabeth asked. She hoped they weren't looking for her...

While she wasn't too popular she had been making a name for herself in the NCR with small things like getting Primm into NCR control, or killing Legionaries when they got too close. Maybe Caesar was mad at her?

"They're not looking for anyone anymore." Boone said, slinging his rifle back on his shoulder and continued on.

Boulder City, or what was left of it, was just little ways ahead. After being blown to heck during an NCR ambush, what remained was a memorial and sad, sad saloon on the outskirts of the ruins.

The ruins were guarded by the NCR, and forbid Team Six to enter without permission. Somehow, Elizabeth was able to convince him to let her, and only her, inside. She gave the other two a pre-determined "wait here" signal and disappeared into the ruins.

Apparently, some Khans were held up in the ruins after getting into a firefight with the NCR and had taken some of them captive.

She took a deep breath to quell her anxiety (once more) and entered the building holding the Khans.

The man inside looked familiar, and pleasantly surprised. He grabbed his gun and unlocked the safety, aiming it at her, "What the hell? You're the courier Benny wasted back in Goodsprings. You're supposed to be dead!"

"I got better," Her voice shaking, but she wasn't trying to hide her fear. She reached for her gun, and the man's aim wavered, "And here I thought us Great Khans were tough to kill. So, what happens now?"

"Where's the Platinum Chip?"

He put the gun down and sighed, "Don't have it. Benny stole it, right before he stabbed us in the back. He's probably back at the Strip by now, laughing at us." he snarled. Clearly, he also didn't like Benny.

But there were other problems she promised to talk about, so she negotiated a deal to get the Khans out of Boulder City safely with the return of the hostages. She was about to leave when he spoke again.

"Here, a souvenir for you," He pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to Elizabeth. She caught it and raised an eyebrow. It was a fancy lighter; silver, and had some pretty engraving on it.

"It's Benny's lighter. Shove it up his ass when you catch up with him."

___

The blue fog was brighter tonight, Elizabeth noted. Usually, it was just a soft glow, but tonight, it was much harsher. It was like a full moon was out, but it was a new moon.

Veronica was happily cooking everyone's meal, Boone was cleaning and fixing up his rifle, and Elizabeth was staring up at the fog, drifting off into space and listening to her playlist on her Pip-Boy.

The soft music was filling up the comfortable silence between the three almost-vagabonds, and relaxing them from a long day's walk and stress from whatever was troubling them.

Elizabeth sighed rather loudly, causing both of them to glance at her.

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?" Veronica asked, looking back at their meal. She wasn't wearing her ever-present hood, and it was the first time Elizabeth has ever seen her hair.

She was eastern Asian, with very soft and delicate features and pale skin, brown eyes and short, straight black hair.

Elizabeth breathed in deeply, then out slowly, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Boone spoke, surprisingly. He didn't look up from his gun.

"Nothing makes sense anymore. Not since I... never mind."

He just grunted, and Veronica turned over the cooking steaks over the fire, then sat next to Elizabeth.

"What're you thinking about?" Elizabeth sat up on her elbows, wanting to change the subject. Veronica tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I've just... been thinking..." She sighed, "The Brotherhood is failing. I've always known that. If we don't change course, we're going to fall apart or... fade away. But until recently I haven't understood where we went wrong or how to fix it. I think I need to go home"

Elizabeth was a little taken back, but still she smiled, "Of course, first chance I get."

Veronica smiled widely, if that was even possible. "Great. Thanks. Thank you. I'll encourage people to name their non- ugly children after you, seriously," She hugged Elizabeth, which hurt from the angles they were at.

Elizabeth caught Boone smiling just a little, and then it was gone. It made her feel better, for some reason.

Veronica finally got off her when Elizabeth started to feel crushed, and returned to the steaks, which were almost done.

As the song on the radio ended, another one began a little while after that, and Elizabeth sat up, to eat dinner and then get some rest.

___

Elizabeth talked to the woman in charge of the Crimson Caravan, Alice McLafferty, for some work. She, in turn, gave her a job to convince someone to quit and something Elizabeth didn't expect.

"There's a small trading outfit, Cassidy Cravens, that I'm interested in acquiring. They've been rather competitive, so it's time to buy them out. I have it on good authority that the owner, Cass, wants out of the caravan business. Cass frequently trades with the NCR, so you'll likely find her at the Mojave Outpost."

Elizabeth's heart fluttered as she remembered the drunk, beautiful, amazing woman at the Outpost. She gladly accepted the job.

___

It took about three days, but they made it to the Outpost. Elizabeth sent her companions off to do whatever they wanted and sat down in the stool next to Cass. She set down her bottle of whiskey and smiled at Elizabeth.

"You come around like a bad habit. What's on your mind?"

"Actually, the Crimson Caravan sent me, they want to buy out your caravan," She took out the paper and slid it over in front of the other woman.

Cass set her drink down rather harshly, and it startled the other. "They want to buy Cassidy Caravans? Don't they know it's burned to ash? No... even in times being that they are, not sure I'm looking to sell, even for all the whiskey in Reno."

"What? Why not?"

"If someone came up to you and offered you a thousand caps for your name, would you take it?"

She was about to answer, but Cass cut her off. "Actually, you know what, fuck it, I don't want to hear your answer anyway. Point is, I made the caravan what it is, it's me."

"This is the offer letter here, the terms are fair." She wouldn't know though, since she can't actually read.

She picked it up and read it, then glanced up to Elizabeth, then back to the paper. "Alice McLafferty, eh? No, I see the zeroes... and I know she's good for them," She set the paper down and sighed, "still, it's not about the money. Dad'd spin like a twister if he ever heard I sold our name for anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Look, I know you came all this way, and that takes some drive, especially these days. Just doesn't feel right, trading history for a slip of paper."

"This outpost is the last place you want to be trapped," Elizabeth tried, and Cass seemed to agree.

"That... that's a good point, it's the caravan clearance that's got me stuck here. I'm sure this bar's getting tired of propping me up. I'll put my name to it. No sense trying to hold the past between your fingers when it's nothing but dirt." She signed the paper, "All right... there you go, caravan's yours. Feel kind of relieved, actually. Guess I didn't realize how much I was carrying around with just the name." She sighed in defeat.

"What will you do now?"

"No idea. Maybe... head back West? Though the idea of heading back there with me tail between my legs isn't appealing."

"You could come with me," Elizabeth was thankful Cass couldn't hear her heart beat faster.

"Go with you? And why the hell would I do that?"

"Stay here, you know exactly what's going to happen, day in, day out."

"So fighting boredom is your argument, huh? Walking the Mojave with you can't be any worse than here, that's for sure. All right, I'm in." She smiled, then stood up and grabbed what little she had with her.

"Caravan of four now," She said, smiling toward Boone and Veronica.


	20. Bad Suit, Huh?

"You now own Cassidy Caravans," Elizabeth told Alice McLafferty as she returned to the Crimson Caravan main office.

"Very good. On occasion it's proven more profitable in the long run to simply buy out the competition, and this is one of those occasions," She paid Elizabeth a little less than she wanted, but she really didn't want to complain.

The others were waiting outside under some shade when Elizabeth returned to them.

"Can't we take a break?" Veronica whined.

"You guys are tired?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not everyone has as much willpower as you, you know," Cass smiled, "Where to next?"

Veronica glared at her, and Elizabeth checked her Pip-Boy, "We need to find someone named Henry Jamison in Freeside. Maybe we can even make a stop in New Vegas."

"Please, not Freeside," Veronica pleaded.

"What?"

"That place is a literal shithole. I've never seen so many drunks and junkies in one place. But if you want to, I'm not going to stop you."

"Just don't... buy any food there." Boone added.

"I'll keep that in mind. Are you sure you all want to come along? I can do this alone."

"Hey, we agreed to follow you, plus, there's nothing much to do," Cass was currently building a small pile of dirt with her foot, then she smashed it. "Also, I was wondering if you were able to make a detour."

"What is it?"

"I wanted to pay my respects to my caravan. It's not too far."

Elizabeth wished she could resist those eyes, but she just couldn't.

"Of course," She smiled, making a note on her Pip-Boy.

"Thanks," Cass sighed.

___

Freeside wasn't actually as bad as people make it out to be. Other than the people who look like they would kill you and eat your heart if you looked at them the wrong way, it was like any other town.

Before the gang stopped by the Old Mormon Fort, Elizabeth sent everyone off to trade everything they've picked up along the road and trade it for medical supplies, food, water and money if they were able to.

Elizabeth pushed open the doors and walked inside.

The inside was like any typical Followers base, Elizabeth thought. There were tents around the area, and people frantically walking about. She couldn't find any doctors patient enough to talk to her until she walked into one of the tents.

There was a man with a Followers coat sitting at a table and writing stuff down. He was older- looking, wearing glasses and light blond hair.

As she approached him (a little bit cautiously, as her hand went straight to her holstered gun), he looked up from his work and smiled.

"Hi, If you're looking for medical help, try the other doctors. I'm just a researcher. Not even a particularly good one."

"What kind of research?" She asked.

"Oh, you know. Finding alternative treatments for common illnesses and injuries. Stimpacks out of barrel cacti and other fantastic improbabilities," He said rather unenthusiastically, "As far as fruitless wastes of time go, it's quite noble in its aims."

"What's the goal?" She asked. It was a little bit interesting, much to her surprise.

"For the past hundred years or so, the Followers have managed to get by using salvaged medical supplies from the Old World. But the side effect of medical success is that more people live longer. Funny how that works. Eventually, we'll run out of hospitals to loot. We need new ways to produce those supplies. Or maybe old ways, if this research goes anywhere."

"You don't sound too enthusiastic about it."

He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "I'm enthusiastic about helping people, but nihil novi sub sole."

"Nihi-what?"

"Oh, sorry. 'There is nothing new under the sun.' If agave and mesquite were that miraculous, the locals would have figured it out a few thousand years ago."

"Where did you learn that?" She asked, her fingers twitching against the gun. He seemed to notice as well, and he just smiled.

"Not from the Legion, if that's what you're getting at. Books, sheet music, Gladiator holotapes. Bits and pieces here and there. The followers have extensive libraries, but we all draw water from the same water from the same old well. Even Caesar."

"Do you know much about Caesar?"

"I don't know anything that the others couldn't tell you. Caesar was one of the Followers. Before my time, of course. He wanted to rebuild the new world in the image of the old. A sad story if good intentions gone bad. In that regard, he's hardly unique. If you set aside his leadership capabilities, extensive knowledge, and ruthless cunning, he's just another jerk who steps on people to get his way."

He pulled his glasses off his face to clean them, and those pair of green eyes popped into her mind again.

"Anything else you wanted to ask?"

"Why do you do research instead of medical help?"

"Not all Followers are people persons. Besides, someone need to do research. I have no problem with Julie sticking me back here. Out of sight, out of mind. There are worse things one can be, though I do admit, it is a bit boring. Though it has a noble goal, I don't think this research will yield much fruit. No pun intended."

"Why don't you come with me?"

"No offense intended, but why should I go anywhere with you?"

"Things are bad. I'd to help in whatever way I can. And so do you, apparently. So why not?"

"Hmm. That seems appropriately resolute yet vague. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and go with you. But let me be clear about something. If you plan to help Caesar's Legion, this is going to be a brief relationship. I may not have all the answers for how this is going to fix Freeside's problems, but Caesar taking control isn't part of the solution. Fair?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then let's get going."

They left the fort, and the man readjusted his glasses, "I'm Arcade, by the way."

"Elizabeth," She smiled.

___

Cass had managed to score the gang two hotel rooms at the Atomic Wrangler, and Elizabeth took care of Henry Jamison. She introduced Arcade to the others and retired to their rooms.

Cass, Elizabeth and Veronica all shared a room while Boone and Arcade shared the other.

The problem was, was that there were only two beds in their room, and there were three of them.

"Fuck it, I don't care. We'll sleep together," Cass told Elizabeth.

Her breath hitched and she felt her face get hot. Veronica laughed, but Cass was already slipping into bed, too tired to care.

Elizabeth took off her vest and boots and slipped into bed next to the other. She turned her back away from her, just to be safe.

She slept better than she usually did. She woke up not feeling that tightness in her chest and her breath caught in her throat, and stretched and yawned. She looked at Cass, sleeping peacefully next to her.

The other woman was, obviously, much smaller than her, but still had a bit on muscle on her arms, and possibly the rest of her body as well, Elizabeth guessed. Her hair was a color that looked like fire as it was splayed out across the white pillow. Her skin was tanned and very freckled, and she looked both young and weathered at the same time. She had very sharp features, unlike Veronica, with a pointed nose and thin, pink lips, and a defined jaw line. She, also, had a chubby face, and rosy cheeks.

When she opened her eyes, she and Elizabeth stared at each other for a moment, then Cass smiled.

"Do you need something?" She asked. Elizabeth broke eye contact and cleared her throat, "No, sorry."

Cass smiled again and sat up, and stretched her arms and rubbed her eyes. She looked at Elizabeth, who was accidentally staring again.

Elizabeth, you need to stop, she's probably not even into girls, Elizabeth thought to herself.

Veronica was the last to wake up when Cass woke her up by throwing one of her pillows at her.

She shot up with her power fist still on her arm and holding a sloppy defensive position while looking around tiredly.

Elizabeth giggled, and then stopped when Cass laughed as well.

"That was adorable!" She said.

Elizabeth giggled again, her cheeks feeling warmer.

After Veronica woke up a little more, she called dibs on the shower first, and Elizabeth helped Cass do laundry.

They were in the laundry room, Cass sitting on one of the broken dryers and Elizabeth leaned against the wall opposite of her, in bathrobes, not talking to each other.

"Where'd you get that necklace from?" Elizabeth finally asked, noticing her necklace for the first time. It was a pendant of some sort, with a flower on it. It was really pretty.

"Gift from my Dad, along with my name. Rose of Sharon Cassidy. Mom said he got the name from some Old World book about dirt pilgrims. Name sure sounds sweet, though. Pendant's a little rose. Originally thought it was one of Mom's tribal necklaces, but no, came from Dad."

"Your mother was a tribal?" Elizabeth asked, crossing her arms.

"You know, like one of the tribes from the East- we got 'em out West, too. NCR's herding 'em up, though, domesticating them. Mom was from East of the Colorado, though, not sure what tribe. Was before Caesar rounded them up, made them Legion. She walked a hell of a way until she crossed paths with my Dad, and he convinced her to stop walking. And luckily for me, he was a horny old bastard."

"That's... one way to put it." Elizabeth didn't want to think about that.

"Didn't ask Mom to elaborate. Never heard her complain about his bedroom behavior, only complain he wasn't around to do it no more."

"Tell me about your dad."

"Not much to tell. He ended up walking East one day when I was young and never came back. Not a family deserter like some, though. Mom died waiting for him, and she had me to raise. She was sick but she held off dying until I was old enough to be getting into trouble with boys. As for Dad, I figure he just got himself lost or dead. Happens... and I'm not all boo-hoo about it."

"Any idea why he went East?"

"Not a clue. When he left, I was too in my crib to understand why, and around the time Mom passed, I was too into my teens to listen. Got his name, got this pendant, and that's about it. Now your turn. Why are we walking all this way?"

"I'm looking for a man who shot me," Elizabeth said a little self-conscious.

"A man who shot you?" Cass raised her eyebrow.

"Twice, in the head," She raked her hands through her hair, showing the other her scar.

"And you got better," Cass said suspiciously.

"A doctor helped patch me up."

"Two shots in the head without an Auto-Doc is a lot of patching. Hope you thanked him properly. Who's this snake that put bullets in your head? Did he have a cause, or...?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "He wanted something I was carrying."

"So he robbed you? Robbing a courier's low, and any family or group he's with is going to get a black eye for it. Caravan code of the wastes is you don't fuck with the one who brings you your mail, and you don't fuck with your supply line. Hope this shithead knows what he's in for. From both of us... what's his name?"

"I found out recently that his name was Benny. But he didn't introduce himself, and wore a bad suit."

"Bad suit, huh? Well, if assholes had taste, we'd all be feasting on shit. Still... suit means money, and suits stand out, especially here in the Mojave. One of the larger towns, or Vegas, might be the place to go. Don't you worry, though," she side-smiled, "we'll sort this asshole out, rattle his cage a little."

Elizabeth smiled and looked away from the other, and went to take the clothes out of the only dryer that worked.

They gave Arcade and Boone their clothes back and returned to their room.

Veronica was drinking a bottle of Nuka-Cola, naked, on the couch, while reading a book.

Cass threw her the Scribe's robes and underwear, then pulled out her own clothes.

"You can take the next shower."

Elizabeth nodded and went into the bathroom and turned on the water.


	21. Pain

It's been a while since Gloria has felt this. Pain, that is. Pure, aching, burning pain. She assumes it's for the best.

Still, it hurts like hell.

Ever since she arrived at Happy Days Homeless Shelter, she's been trying to get off everything she's addicted to.

She's never felt this weak and vulnerable before. She hates it more than anything.

The owner and founder is a woman named Elise, who is too nice for her own good. There are a lot of bad eggs in this place, waiting for the right moment to pounce and probably kill or rob everyone here.

But, no, she assures Gloria that it's perfectly safe here. She's only got two body guards: a silent, large... person with no face. They only wear a gas mask and bulky armor, who goes by Ray, and the other is a fake-biker girl named Ace who caught Gloria's attention from the moment she saw her.

But, she's letting her mind wander. Detoxing is a pain the ass and Gloria hates it.

The radio was playing quietly in the makeshift clinic, and Elise give the other woman a warm smile, removing the needle from her arm and covering it with a bandage and a rub over it.

"Is there... anything else you would like to tell me?" Elise asked, her accent is unlike anything Gloria's ever heard, like, French or something.

"Why do you ask me that every time I detox?" She asked.

Elise smiled even wider, if it was possible, "Communication is important for people. Even the Lone Wanderer."

Gloria snorted. She was known as many things; 101, James' Kid, Miss Hill, Vault Reject- but this was the first time she's been called her "proper" nickname on this side of the country. She didn't mind, but it did make her a little sad.

And that sadness showed on her face. Elise brushed Gloria's bangs out of her face, "I'm sorry, did I say something to offend you?" She asked, genuinely sorry. Such a thing was rare these days.

"Yeah, I just... I'm still not over it..." She looked at the floor.

"When you're ready to tell me about it, I'm always here for you," Elise rubbed her shoulder and stood up to give her some Fixer.

Gloria sighed, "I was... nineteen when my dad left the Vault."

Elise stopped what she was doing and sat next to Gloria, allowing her to continue.

"I was..." She laughed bitterly, "I was so scared. Of... everything. I spent my teen years a fucking miserable mess and I was recovering from... things. The only person that actually cared about me just fucking left me in the worst place in the world. I was so angry. And Dad just... he tried to tell me that this was for the best, that I was safe in the Vault but... God, that was a complete fucking lie. He died trying to protect... something. Whether it was me or his project, I still don't know. I like to think he did this all for me."

Gloria brushed her hair back with her fingers, and leaned back against the back of her chair, "I sacrificed myself for his work. I finally felt happy that I was going to die. I really, really did. Bu... I woke up again, two weeks later, and had to save the Capital Wasteland once again. Like... some kind of selfless heroine or some shit."

"But that makes you a hero! People love heroes!" Elise exclaimed. Gloria shook her head, "I never wanted to be a hero. I just wanted a peaceful life. Just me and some pretty girl in a shack in, fuck if I know, Maine or something, I don't care. But, nope. I just had to fly West instead of North. It was a huge mistake."

Gloria shut her mouth immediately as Ace entered, carrying a file for Elise to sign, casting a small smile at Gloria when she caught her staring. Gloria smiled back, her heart beating a million beats per second, and avoided looking at the other for the remaining time she was in there.

___

When Gloria was released from the clinic, she walked into the main room where Stacy was waiting for her.

"How was it?" Stacy asked. Gloria shrugged, "It was all right. Got a little too emotional in there."

She smiled, "That's great!"

Gloria shook her head furiously, "No, that's not great. Showing emotions means that I'm weak and I deserve to be punched in the face or somethin'."

"So," Stacy sat on the couch under the window, motioning for her to follow, "what did you talk about?"

Gloria rolled her eyes and sat in the chair across from her.

She leaned back in her chair and sighed, "Just... y'know. Stuff."

"Like...?"

Gloria sighed, "Dad... Almost spilled about Elizabeth too."

"Elizabeth who?" An unfamiliar voice sounded, and it startled the three of them.

Ray was clearly looking at Gloria, but obviously, Gloria couldn't read their face because they always wore that ridiculous gas mask. Still, it creeped the hell out of her.

"Um, Elizabeth Cruz, I think? Her real name's Rosalina, though."

Ray's head snapped to Ace, who was looking rather bored. "Tell Elise." Ray said.

"Tell her what?" Ace asked, clearly confused.

"She knows Elizabeth."

Ace's eyes widened, then she bolted straight to the clinic.

"What's going on?" Stacy asked.

Ray ignored her, and stepped out of the way as Elise came storming out of the clinic, with Ace at her heels.

She stopped in front of the two Vault rejects, hands on her hips and worry in her eyes.

"What's... going on?" Gloria asked. Elise scratched the short hair on her head, then closed her eyes, "I knew Elizabeth. She's missing."

"Really?" Stacy asked

Ace licked her lips, then looked up at the two girls, "Elizabeth used to stay here. She came here around... two and a half years ago looking for a place to stay. She got a job as a courier at the Mojave Express not too far from here, and started giving us the money she earned to help the shelter out."

Elise eyes started to water, and she quickly wiped away her tears, "She got a notice a few months ago and said that she was going to get a lot of money if she delivered this package. I didn't want her to go, but she insisted."

Ace cut in, "I went with her when she got the job to New Vegas and... she never came back."

Elise shushed the woman, "it's okay, it's not your fault, Ace."

"I hear things on the radio, about a courier that was shot in Goodsprings. Do you think that's her?" Stacy offered, which surprised Gloria. Usually, Stacy was as dumb as a brick, so it was almost unheard of for her to make the connection.

Elise nodded, "I had hope it was her. I'm just so worried..." She grabbed Gloria's hands suddenly, "Please... please, if you would... please find Genevieve Elizabeth. Please..."

Gloria blinked, a little shocked, and then licked her lips. She opened her mouth to speak, but Stacy interrupted, "Yes, of course! After everything you've done for me and Gloria, it's the least we could do."

Ace crossed her arms, "What, you send them out, but you don't send me?"

"I didn't want to lose you too!"

Ace bit her lip, uncaring that her lipstick was now smudged on her teeth, "Can I at least take them to New Vegas? I know the way."

Gloria blushed, looking at the ground. God damn it, what was with her? Why was she so flustered at the thought of travelling with Ace?

With some arguing back and forth, Elise reluctantly agreed, and gave them supplies to last them at least two weeks.

Ace hugged both Elise and Ray tightly, promising she'd bring Elizabeth back, and turned back to Gloria and Stacy, staring their new journey.


	22. Mourning

"Are you sure this was what sent out the signal?" Cass asked as Elizabeth walked around the crashed satellite outside of Nipton. When she didn't answer, Cass nudged her back with her boot, and Elizabeth gasped in surprise.

"What? What is it?"

Cass snorted, "I asked you if this was what sent the signal?"

"Yeah, of course," Elizabeth held out her Pip-Boy and pointed to a marked location on the map, then switched to the third tab from the left and pointed to the marked quest, "This is really accurate, it helped me more times than I could count in Zion. Which probably wouldn't be that much because I can't count..."

"And what about the Mojave?"

"Yeah, here too!" She chirped, making Cass' heart flutter. She was so cute, even when they were both dying in the heat. She smiled at her friend as she glanced back between the satellite and her Pip-Boy, pushing buttons between both of them and making a confused face after a while when nothing happened. Cass stood between Elizabeth's arm and her body, reading the text out loud, then turning back to the other. "I think you need to wait until midnight? The Midnight Science Fiction Feature!"

Elizabeth blushed and stepped back, "It's only around ten at night, though..." She looked at the moon, then back to Cass, who looked a bit frustrated.

"You dragged me all the way out here so we could wait around for this thing?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..." Elizabeth looked at the ground in front of her feet, "Honest, I didn't know."

Cass sighed, "I'm not mad, I'm just... it's hot." She wiped some sweat off of her forehead. Elizabeth tilted her head, "Well, you are wearing a jacket and long pants."

"Says the one wearing a million-degree vest and ten-thousand extra pouches."

Elizabeth rubbed the front of her pants where her pockets should be, "These don't have pockets! We need pockets!"

"Okay, yeah, that I can understand." Cass laughed.

Elizabeth smiled, "Good. Now, we could wait inside one of the houses in Nipton but..."

"But what?"

"I'm still scared."

"That's okay," Cass walked up next to Elizabeth and put her hands on her shoulders, "we can wait out here, I don't really mind."

Elizabeth blushed, "Um, okay, thank you. I just... don't want to be alone."

"Hey, I get it, no one wants to be alone either," Cass sat down in front of the satellite and patted the dirt next to her. Elizabeth sat down next to her and pulled her knees up to her chest.

At 12:00, the satellite projected an image onto the screen of the Mojave Drive-in, waking both women up. Elizabeth jumped up and stared up at the projection.

It was an eye furiously looking around, it seemed. A curious image to project, but there must be a message behind it.

Cass rubbed her eyes and stood up, staring at the projection as well.

"What does it mean?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "A message?" She turned back to the satellite, "Maybe there's something on here?"

She touched the side, and a blue field of some sort wrapped around her, then she was gone before she could scream for Cass to help her.

"Elizabeth!" Cass yelled, but she was gone! Disappeared into thin air!

___

It had been a week since Elizabeth returned to the Mojave. She sent Cass a letter via (another) courier, telling her that she was okay and she was going to go treasure hunting in the Sierra Madre.

She spent the last two weeks drinking and gambling at the Atomic Wrangler, when another courier arrived with a letter one day.

"Letter for Rose of Sharon Cassidy," He said happily, holding out a letter to the surprised and uncharacteristically sober woman.

"What the-" Cass ripped the letter from the courier's hand and tore it open, reading the contents.

'Um, this is Elizabeth. Meet me next to the satellite. Thanks. Bye. How do I turn this thing off? Oh here we g-' the recording shut off, and Cass sighed rather dramatically and told the courier to go fuck himself when he asked for payment and stomped up the stairs to her hotel room.

Veronica was reading a magazine and jumped when Cass burst into the room and started packing.

"What's up?" She asked unenthusiastically.

"Elizabeth sent me a message."

"What did it say?"

Cass scrambled to get her jacket on and put her hat on haphazardly, yelling out "Nipton!" before running out the door and jumped off the second floor of the hotel onto the counter beneath, making James Garrett scream in surprise.

___

Cass felt physically relieved when Elizabeth appeared in a burst of light, looking a little confused, and completely overwhelmed. She didn't say anything as the water merchant ran to her and pulled her into a tight hug, she only hugged back and held onto her tightly.

She pulled away from Elizabeth, and she stared into her chestnut colored eyes, full of relief and pure joy, and Cass pulled the other into a gentle kiss, a small peck on the lips.

They were soft, Cass noticed, unnaturally soft for someone these days. Elizabeth was blushing now, which Cass thought was adorable, and she smiled and pulled Elizabeth into another hug.

When they pulled apart once again, it was because Elizabeth almost collapsed. When Cass asked if she was okay, she laughed and pulled Cass into her lap and kissed her properly this time, lips molding together and their arms wrapped tightly around each other.

Elizabeth pulled away from their kiss and pressed her forehead against Cass', accidentally knocking off her hat in the process, and smiled.

Somewhere in there, Elizabeth muttered "I love you so much", which caused Cass to pull away and look at the other quizzically.

"What was that?"

Elizabeth blushed, "I didn't mean to... I..."

Cass sighed, "Elizabeth, we barely know each other..."

Elizabeth looked at the ground and played with a stray string on Cass' shirt, "I'm sorry..."

Cass kissed her gently on the forehead, "There's no need to apologize."

"I know, but I still feel like I should... Like..." Elizabeth sucked in a breath, "I don't know."

Cass stood up and helped Elizabeth up, then put her hat back on. "Well, the others are probably waiting for us."

Elizabeth checked her Pip-Boy, scrolling through the notifications she gave herself whenever something was finished or what she needed to do. "We still have to go to HELIOS One, Camp Forlorn Hope, and- oh crap, Veronica... dang it..." she dug the heels in her hands into her eyes, out of frustration or something else, she didn't know, but she felt overwhelmed. Really, really overwhelmed.

There were still blanks in her mind, which was more frustrating than having nothing at all. And, what was worse, is that she was rejected. Elizabeth felt like she was the one to do the rejecting, not the other way around.

"Hey... you feeling all right?" Cass asked, putting her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder.

Elizabeth screamed as loud as she could, scaring the living hell out of Cass, and screamed and screamed until she felt a little bit better. She fell back onto the ground, staring up at the stars and blue fog in the sky.

"Well okay then." Cass said simply, scooting over to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth threw her arm over her eyes, "This is just too much. I was... I'm just a courier..."

"I see that trip frazzled your brain a little," Cass laughed. She laid down next to Elizabeth and stretched, then folded her arms behind her head, "Get some sleep, you need it."

Elizabeth happily complied.

The next morning, she woke up with Cass sleeping soundly, curled up next to her. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she was really awake, then kissed the other gently on the head.

Cass stirred in her sleep, and then opened her eyes. She looked at Elizabeth, then smiled, closing them again.

"We slept out here in the dirt, outside Nipton, next to a crashed satellite. This surprisingly isn't the weirdest situation I've ever been in." Cass whispered, and Elizabeth chuckled, "Come on, let's get back to Freeside."

___

The two were almost at Novac when Cass finally broke the silence.

"What... happened?"

Elizabeth stopped and turned around to look at the other, "What do you mean?"

"When you went treasure hunting or whatever."

"To the Sierra Madre? That was... an impulse I had. I do stupid things a lot, and you should probably know that I'm a little reckless and not very smart. I just... needed to get my mind off things, so I ventured down to the bunker and I was kidnapped. Kind of. I was forced to break into a casino with three other individuals and... well, to be honest, I don't quite know what happened after that. I'd rather not think about that I kind of... was traumatized... a little."

"Oh my God, are you okay?"

Elizabeth smiled and spun around on her heel, and started walking to Novac, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit scary down there. At least it was down... I don't really know where the Madre was but it was scary. With ghost people and poisonous air and bomb collars..." Elizabeth wrapped her hand around her neck, gently, where the collar used to be, then gulped.

Cass doesn't say anything. Elizabeth didn't blame her.

"I was really scared. I thought I was going to die." Elizabeth cleared her throat, "Anyway, before that, I went to Big Mountain, Big Empty, whatever it's called. I had my brain, spine and heart removed by the scientists there, and I had to recover my brain. Well, long story short, my brain is back, but I've got a fake heart and a fake spine, and a new house!"

Cass laughed, and it made Elizabeth smile. They continued on in silence.

___

When they reached outer Vegas, Cass stopped and looked into the distance.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked. Cass licked her lips, "I was wondering if you were able to make a detour. I wanted to pay my respects to the end of Cassidy Caravans, check out the site where they died. It's not too far from here."

"Do you think there's anything left?"

"Only wishful thinking on my part, most likely. At the least, I'd like to pay my respects. I got them into this mess, I owe them that much."

Elizabeth couldn't resist those sad blue eyes, "Let's go."

"Thanks," Cass kissed her on the cheek, "I appreciate it. Some of the caravan might be ash, but we were expecting raiders and over-inquisitive NCR border guards. There might be something left."

When they finally found the remains of Cass's caravan, she bent down near one of the piles of ash, and examined it.

"God, there's almost nothing left. Looks like whoever it was, was just in the mood for killing. Most of the cargo's ash too- not burned, looks like... disintegrated. When I heard the reports, I assumed 'ash' meant 'burned.' So close to the Vegas wall, too, don't that bear all. Must have happened during the day, though, they hadn't made a camp."

"Why would they have done it during the day?" Elizabeth asked.

"No idea. Maybe to catch the sun in their eyes? Maybe they wanted the caravan to come to them, walk into an ambush?" She stood up and turned to the other.

"We should check the wagon, they may not have got everything. Whatever we find, it's yours. It's the least I can do for this."

When Elizabeth was scouring around, Cass stood up again. "You know what? What happened to my caravan... it's not the first time I've heard about an attack like that. One of our caravans got hit a few months back, and the caravan'd been burned, too, along with the cargo. I wonder if he made the same mistake, and that other caravan got hit with energy weapons, too."

"Do you want to check it out?"

"Yeah, it's a ways though, hell of a detour. You sure?"

"Yes, let's go," Elizabeth smiled, trying to reassure the other.

Cass wasn't wrong, it was a hell of a ways away. The caravan was also most disintegrated, with the exception of the dead Brahmin and empty crates.

"More energy weapons hit this caravan. Place has been picked clean. This... this is Brotherhood level murder here, but they don't do things like that. This was done with a purpose. Let's poke around a bit, see what we can find. Might be something in the wreckage."

Elizabeth dug around in one of the ash piles and pulled out something.

"What's that? Looks like a map," She handed it to Cass and she studied it for a moment, "Got a route along the West of Vegas, and..." She pointed at a location, and held it out for Elizabeth to see.

"They've marked another spot. Over here, along this stretch. That's fucked up- middle of nowhere."

"Let's go then."

"Yeah, something's wrong, I can feel it. It's not any closer than the first, so if you'd rather let be, let me know."

"No, it's fine."

"All right, let's move out."

The caravan was also burned to ash, but there were also some intact bodies around. "Another caravan burned. Except someone made camp here, and I never heard about this attack. Let's look around. Something stinks."

The two of them examined the bodies, and they turned out to belong to the Crimson Caravan guards and Van Graff thugs.

"That does it, that's all I need to know. Crimson Caravan and the Van Graffs... they were behind burning these caravans, and they've got to answer for them. I'm going to get some extra ammo, a few bottles of whiskey, then show them how Cassidys settle accounts."

"No! No, there's another way. We can get evidence, let NCR take them down."

She crossed her arms and scowled at Elizabeth. "NCR? Are you out of your fucking mind? That'd take years... and with the war with the Legion, no way they're going to waste time running up the Crimson Caravan or the Van Graffs!"

"The harm to the Van Graffs would last longer and travel back West."

Cass sighed, "All right, if you poke around the Van Graffs and Alice, fine. But if I see either one go into their camp? I'm going to start shooting, no matter what you find."

Getting the evidence was easy enough. Elizabeth had to pick the locks of the safes that held the evidence at the Crimson Caravan.

"You find any 'evidence' yet? I'm not going to wait forever."

She handed her the note, "Here's the evidence of the deal. Without its twin, there's no proof."

"So there's just one more safe to crack? Hope you can get to it. Say what you will about the leading two ladies, they watch their lockers like crows. Still... you got one, so the other might not be impossible. If you get both, then let's talk. And... I appreciate you putting yourself at risk like this. Thanks."

She patted her on the arm and Elizabeth smiled.

They broke into the Silver Rush in Freeside and found the other piece of evidence, somewhat magically. When they got back to the others at the Atomic Wrangler, Elizabeth gave the other piece of evidence to Cass.

"Here's the other piece. We have both now."

"No shit. There it is, the blood, the motive, as clear as day. They must have penned these with snake venom. But... we got it, now what? Sure, this damns them, but only if someone listens."

"Is there anyone you trust in the NCR?"

"Well... Jackson in the Mojave Outpost could get it to folks in the West. I wouldn't trust anyone closer to the Colorado. And the Crimson Caravan and the Van Graffs have their heart back West. Not sure it'll do any good, though."

"We have to try."

"All right, let's do it, listen to what he has to say."

"After... After dinner and a night's rest, right?" Elizabeth asked hopefully. Even the strongest people had limits.

Cass, reluctantly, agreed, and Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief.

Back at the Atomic Wrangler, Elizabeth surprised the others with her sudden return, and went straight to bed.

And in the morning, Elizabeth surprised Veronica with Vera Keyes' dress (that she stole off a skeleton, but she didn't mention that to Veronica), and she was more than happy to show the other some unarmed moves.

Elizabeth wasn't too good at punching, she was more of a stabbing kind of gal, but she took the instruction anyway.

___

When Cass and Elizabeth arrived at the Outpost, Cass almost ran to the main office and threw the door open and shoved the evidence into Ranger Jackson's hands, who looked pretty surprised.

"Cass, I wasn't expecting to see you anytime soon," He said.

"I have evidence of a caravan conspiracy."

He read both of the notes, then handed them back to Cass, "All right. This is... this explains a lot of the lost caravans. I thought it was Legion work, but..."

"Can you get it to the right people?"

"I can, if you make a promise. I need you to swear you won't take revenge on Gloria or Alice. If you do, then your case is over, and we can't see that justice is done. I know some things are hard to let go, but you need to understand that, hear me?"

Cass sighed, "You have my word."

"That'll have to do." Jackson took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes, "God, what a mess. People turning against each other when the Mojave's at risk of failing? If the Republic's sinkhole progress doesn't kill us, greed will. Thanks for bringing me this, I know revenge must have been tempting," He put his sunglasses back on and smiled a little, "For what it's worth, I appreciate you didn't shed any more blood. We need to save our strength for the Legion."

"You're welcome," Elizabeth said, since Cass wasn't going to.

"I'll do what I can, and these folks that got killed need to be answered for."

When Jackson went back to his duties, Cass turned to the other, "Well, that's settled... I suppose."

"Are you all right?" Elizabeth asked.

"Feels... I don't know. I guess I feel relieved. I don't know what I feel," Her expression brightened a little bit, "Wait, that's not true. I think the NCR back West, when riled, is going to be the worst enemy the Van Graffs and the Crimson Caravan ever had. They're all so mired in procedure and paper out there, the kind of evidence we gave is going to be worse than shooting them. I think that settles accounts with me- and my men. That was some tricky political maneuvering, but worth it, even if it takes a few years."

She looked very relaxed now, and that made Elizabeth even happier. She hugged her tightly and kissed her on the cheek. She hugged back, and then pulled away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GAY


	23. Dream

Elizabeth could see light in the distance. Not the lights of New Vegas, but something else. Brighter. Cleaner. Something more pure.

It was calling to her. It spoke to her without using words, without a mouth to speak from. A single, solid entity emerged and held out its hand for Elizabeth to take. She wanted to take its hand but she felt like she shouldn't. Not yet. Not yet.

It tried to grab her by her hair, her clothes, anything as she turned around and ran the other way.

She woke up in a state of panic. She never felt her heart beat so fast in her entire life. She looked around, confused, scared, and her eyes settled on the old wooden door in front of her. She sat up and winced at a sharp, stabbing pain in her side, and stood up, slowly, holding onto the bed post for balance, holding onto anything to help her stay standing, to not fall down.

She reached the door and almost fell over after opening it, if it wasn't for a pair of arms breaking her fall.

"Hey, hey it's okay," Veronica hefted her up, as gently as she could, onto the couch. Elizabeth was still a little out of it, and was mumbling incoherent sentences, which confused the duo of wayfarers.

"I thought I was dead," Elizabeth rasped out, licking her dry lips, and smiling with a tired look upon her face. She certainly looked like she hadn't slept in about three days, and with all the dried blood caked on her skin, she was a little worse for wear.

Boone and Veronica made do with what they were able to do for her, since Arcade wasn't around and Elizabeth was delirious, and neither of them knew anything about medicine other than "stick a Stimpack in it and hope for the best".

They were pretty damned lucky that Elizabeth was in cahoots with the Followers of the Apocalypse, and good 'ole Julie Farkas gave her a key to the safehouse on the way to Vault 22. The unlucky part about this whole fiasco were the Legionaries. As it turns out, liberating Nelson from the Legion wasn't something that they liked, but the NCR troops at Forlorn Hope sure thought Elizabeth was a Godsend.

In fact, the entire damn NCR thought Elizabeth was a saint. It started with her work at HELIOS One (which also made Arcade happy that she sent power to Freeside and Westside), and then helping that comm officer in Forlorn Hope (which did end up a huge mess since the comm officer at Camp Golf was sabotaging reports and then ended up killing himself, which Elizabeth blamed herself for).

And if the NCR wasn't enough, she seemed to irradiate holiness and positivity, even in times like this, helping Freeside like it was her life's purpose and donating precious chems to the Followers (which did land them a safe place to stay).

Both Boone and Veronica had to agree that the girl earned the few nicknames given her: Ranger of the Wastes, Desert Avenger, Vegas Crusader, among other names. The girl was a saint, through and through.

But, here they are now: the outlaw, the scribe (ex-scribe now; they visited Hidden Valley and things didn't turn out like Veronica planned), and the courier, all cooped up in an old building in the middle of nowhere that smelled like mildew despite the dry weather. The Follower that had shacked up in here mysteriously disappeared, though

It was cozy, but it definitely wasn't somewhere they would like to shack up for the rest of their lives.

Elizabeth was bleeding again, and luckily, she was conscious enough to guide Veronica through cleaning and stitching up a wound. And, Veronica would say, it was good practice for all of them. Boone rolled his eyes and told Veronica to concentrate, and Elizabeth grunted in pain whenever the scribe would even touch her.

When Veronica finished stitching up the wound, she helped Elizabeth sit up and drink some water, then something to eat, and some more pain killers.

"We'd have more Med-X if you didn't give them away," Boone said bitterly, which caused Veronica to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Med-X is highly addictive and has the worst withdrawal effects. Besides, others need it more than I do."

"Such a saint," Veronica said before stabbing the Med-X needle into Elizabeth's arm and pushed down the pump, then took it out and wiped away the blood from the small wound.

Elizabeth drank another bottle of purified water, and then stood up and filled it back up at the sink.

She returned to the small living room and sat on the floor against the couch Veronica was sitting on.

"You never told us what happened at the Sierra Madre," Veronica said, breaking the slightly awkward silence.

Elizabeth took another drink of her water, "I was kidnapped and forced to work for this guy to get into a casino with three other... people."

"Is that it? Then why do you have nightmares every night since you got back?" Boone asked. Elizabeth clicked her tongue, then sighed, "There were ghosts. And poisonous air and the ghosts wouldn't die... and there were the bomb collars..."

"That's... enough. You don't have to say any more."

"Veronica... I found Elijah," Elizabeth looked up at the other, who looked very happy.

"You did? Where? Oh my God, I mean... I thought... I don't even know what I thought might have happened to him. But... you don't have a 'this is good news' expression on your face."

"He's dead. I had to kill him before he hurt others," Elizabeth looked away from Veronica, whose expression did a complete 180.

"It doesn't matter. He died when we all retreated to Hidden Valley. I didn't expect to see him again, no one did. Did he say anything when you met him? Anything... anything at all?"

Elizabeth pulled out Elijah's last message and handed it to Veronica. "Where did you get this?" She took it and looked it over, "Guess I was right about the bad news, huh? Same look Elder McNamara always gave me when I was up for promotion."

"You should listen to it."

She agreed, listened to the tape, and then put it down when it was finished. "That was... hard to watch."

"Did it make any sense?"

"The parts I understood? Didn't matter. Past all the garbage, all it amounted to was goodbye. Sorry... feel a little out of it. Head's spinning a bit..." She grabbed her head, then sat back up, "Oh. Oh! I think he left me a gift. Maybe I can use it better than he did."

They sat in more comfortable silence for a little while, until Boone called it a night and leaned back in his chair and put his beret over his eyes and went right to sleep.

___

Vault 22 was a disaster, and the group of wanderers barely made it out alive. Elizabeth thanked whoever was looking over her that she was still alive, and swore that she would never become a gardener.

The trip back to McCarran was uneventful, but Elizabeth did sign up for a bounty on three troublesome fiends. She quickly delivered the data to Dr. Kilburn and confirmed that Dr. Keeley was alive with his assistant.

There was a certain satisfaction Elizabeth felt when she cut off Cook-Cook's head with her machete, and his blood sprayed everywhere, and splattered on her clothes and face. She wasn't a particularly violent person, in fact, she hates fighting, but when it came to fiends, she admitted she liked to kill them. To rid the world of their filth.

She picked up his head and threw it to Boone, who fumbled it, then finally caught it. He didn't complain, just put in an old plastic bag with Driver Nephi and Violet's decapitated heads, and handed it to Veronica, who looked a little sick.

She returned to Major Dahtri with the bag full of her targets' heads and was paid, and the three returned back to Freeside.

Elizabeth flopped onto the bed next to Cass, who was already curled up into a little ball reading a magazine. She turned her head to face Elizabeth, and smiled. Elizabeth smiled back and kissed her on the forehead, "I'm back."

"How was it?" She asked, sitting up and scooting over so Elizabeth could properly fit on the bed.

Elizabeth sighed, "I got hurt and then I got paid for a bounty."

"Is that all? I thought you ran off again."

Elizabeth laughed, "No, no, I won't be leaving the Mojave for a long, long time."

Cass kissed her on the nose, "I'm glad you're safe."

"Me too," Elizabeth mumbled to herself, mostly.

___

"And why again are you taking me to a mutant-infested hellhole controlled by a psychopathic Nightkin? We could be living the dream in Vegas and all that." Arcade complained. Elizabeth laughed, "I heard a distress call from Black Mountain Radio. I felt like I needed to help this guy, Raul, I think he said his name was."

"Why?"

"Because... I don't know. Stop asking so many questions. I'm getting nervous again."

The large satellites were in Elizabeth's view now, and she checked the map again to see if they were going the right now.

The two almost got to the mountain when a Super Mutant started running at them. Before they could pull out our weapons, he held up his hands in surrender. Elizabeth motioned to not attack, and the Super Mutant walked up to them.

"This is a dangerous place, human- especially for your kind! I suggest you turn back. There's nothing good for you further on."

"What makes this a 'dangerous place'?" Elizabeth asked. Arcade face-palmed.

"You must've heard her radio broadcasts? Though why a human would follow her invitation here is beyond me... unless you didn't listen very closely. The voice on the radio belongs to Tabitha, the 'supreme commander' of Black Mountain, or as she calls it, the 'State of Utobitha'. She took control of this place almost two years ago. The Super Mutants here do whatever she says, and she says humans are to be killed on sight."

"It sounds like you've had enough of Tabitha. What if you had some help?"

"Help would improve the odds. Help might just make the difference... All right. if you're good enough at what you do to meet me in the village up near the peak, we can talk further. I'll have a plan by the time I see you, if I see you. Good luck. It's going to be a lot harder for you to get up there than it will for me."

He ran off and Elizabeth turned to Arcade. "So, are you all ready to fight Super Mutants?"

"It'll be fun. Also, be on the lookout."

Luckily for the both of them, they only had to fight two Super Mutants on the way up. Arcade sheathed his ripper as Elizabeth walked over to a random dead body.

"Ah, yeah, really dead," She plugged her nose. Dead people in the hot desert heat didn't smell too nice. She noticed there was a bear trap around his leg, and looked up the shortcut to the mutant community.

"There's a way up," Elizabeth pointed to the incline, and began to climb up while disarming the bear traps for Arcade.

There was a rumbling noise, followed by smaller rocks dropping onto the path. Arcade, being significantly smarter than his counterpart, pulled her back down the incline and out of the way of the large boulder rolling down. She dusted off her pants and began climbing up again. There was no way there was going to be another boulder.

They finally met the Super Mutant, Neil, by the village. The place was pretty irradiated, and Elizabeth almost regretted giving all her Rad-Away to Julie Farkas.

"A pleasant surprise to see you all made it. I'm ready to get started if you are."

"Yeah, what's the plan?"

"The gate to Tabitha's compound is guarded by several Nightkin, all using devices that make them invisible. I'm going to draw them away from the gate telling them I spotted intruders in the village. Then you slip in."

"That's your plan? But we're the intruders in the village!" Arcade said.

"Yes, so try and stay out of sight, because they'll be coming this way."

Since Elizabeth wasn't that quiet, they were spotted by the incoming Nightkin, and Arcade had to do most of the work picking them off with his new Gauss Rifle (Elizabeth gave it to him after her visit to the Big Empty) while Elizabeth ran ahead stabbing and slashing her way to the Nightkin with the missile launcher.

Neil wasn't very impressed, but he wished them luck once more and ran off somewhere. All of the buildings were locked except for a storage area, which the two decided to look around. There was a broken robot on the table.

"I got this," Elizabeth said cracking her knuckles. She opened up its circuit box and poked around in there, then the robot began to come alive.

"Hello. Could you please direct me to Mistress Tabitha?" It asked.

"Sure, follow me." Elizabeth said.

"Thank you very much. My internal clock says it's been 6 years, 52 days, 40 minutes, and 13 seconds since I last spoke to her. I hope she hasn't gotten lonely." They walked out of the storage room and right into a Nightkin wearing a wig and heart- shaped glasses.

"R- Rhonda? Is that you?" She asked.

"It is, Mistress Tabitha. How I've missed you so. This stranger here fixed me up right as rain. Is she a friend of yours?" The robot asked. The Nightkin stepped closer to Elizabeth, "I... don't know how to thank you for bringing Rhonda back to me, stranger. Here, take this. I won't be needing it anymore." She handed her a key, and she put it in her pocket.

"What will you do now?"

"I don't know... it's been so long since I lost Rhonda, that I'm not too sure."

The robot tapped Tabitha on the shoulder, "Mistress Tabitha, we should be heading off. Our journey has been much delayed, but we can catch up if we hurry. Come along, now."

Tabitha thanked the two again and then left with her robot. It made Elizabeth feel good that she didn't have to kill her.

"Now that's over, can we get to our original mission?" Arcade asked.

"What are you- Oh! The distress call!" Elizabeth laughed, "I almost forgot!"

The two walked into the prison building and Elizabeth tried to open the door inside, but it wouldn't budge.

"Now it's my turn," Arcade hacked the terminal that kept the door locked, and Elizabeth opened the door to see a ghoul in front of a radio looking pretty miserable. Well, until he looked up at her.

"Took you long enough. So, can I go now?"

"What do you mean, took me long enough?"

"Sorry. I assumed the only reason you'd fight past a horde of Super Mutants and pick the lock on my cell is you heard my cry for help on the radio. But maybe you're just sightseeing. So, since the door's open and all, can I go now?"

"Yeah, enjoy your freedom."

"All righty then, I'll just head out. Alone. But myself. Into the dangerous wastes."

"Well, do you wanna tag along with us?"

He smiled, "Anything's better than staying here. Let's go."

After Raul's introduction to the group, they had a meeting (that mostly consisted of Elizabeth saying "We're going to Vegas" and sighs of relief), and they all packed up to leave.


	24. Revenge

Elizabeth barely had enough caps to let everyone on the Strip. She had to lay down the law: no gambling unless you're certain you'll win.

Arcade was rather unimpressed, "The Strip's not a bad place if you love terrible things and people. I'll never understand the allure of giving away your money to the rich."

"Lighten up Arcade, this is the only paradise on earth," Veronica playfully punched him on the shoulder.

Elizabeth walked forward a few steps and turned around to face the others.

"All right, I'll let you guys soak in the sights, I'm going to see if Vault 21's got any rooms."

Even after a casino heist of the century, they were still poor. Elizabeth counted 136 caps left in her pocket, and sighed and slipped them back into her bag.

"You all right?" Cass asked.

She nodded, "Yeah, yeah, fine. We don't have a lot of money..."

She grabbed her hand and pulled her toward Gomorrah, "We can gamble a little bit," She offered, and Elizabeth called out to the others to meet later on at Vault 21.

"Are you sure we'll make some money?" Elizabeth sounded unsure. She has probably never gambled before, and was a little unsure.

"Sure. You're a pretty lucky person," Cass smiled and opened the doors.

As she earned 300 more caps, and Elizabeth called it a night. Cass couldn't complain, since this was the most money they've had in a while.

Elizabeth ran her hand through her hair and sighed, "I need a haircut," She mumbled to herself. It was growing past her shoulders and was looking like a red, wavy tangled mess on top of her head.

Cass nudged the other's arm, and pointed to the stray securitron in front of the Lucky 38, "It's that cowboy robot that you mentioned before."

Elizabeth blinked, then looked up at the casino across the way, then back to Cass, "I guess we could check it out tomorrow," She mumbled and made her way to Vault 21.

The two took their time getting to Vault 21, enjoying the Strip and avoiding drunk NCR soldiers. They stopped in front of the Tops, and Elizabeth looked nervous again.

"Are you ready for this?" Cass asked.

"Ready for what?"

"To get revenge on Benny? Isn't that why you're here?" She asked.

"Oh, right. To be honest... I'm scared. What if he kills me again or something. I can't come back to life twice."

"We'll be there to protect you," Cass gave her a one-armed hug.

"That's another thing. I think I need to do this alone. It's not that I appreciate you and the others being there for me, I just... I just need to do it alone."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I am."

"When are you thinking of confronting Benny, then?"

"Ah, geez, I don't know. I think when the time comes I'll know," Elizabeth sighed, and walked over to Vault 21.

Cass opened the door to for the other and closed it behind her.

The others were in the lobby, patiently waiting for them.

Elizabeth bought two hotel rooms for the night, and they were shown to their rooms.

"Classy," Veronica commented when the girls walked into their own room. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and set her backpack down, and rubbing her sore shoulders.

Cass threw off her hat and untied her hair and shook her head to loosen it.

"A haircut will be nice for all of us," She said while examining the ends of her hair.

"I can do that!" Veronica said, smiling and looking pretty excited for some reason. Elizabeth and Cass looked at each other, then back at the other. "All right, sure," Cass said, sitting down on Veronica's bed in front of her.

Since no one had scissors, Veronica had to improvise using a really sharp knife. She did both Cass' and Elizabeth's hair in no time, and the two looked at themselves in the bathroom mirror.

Nothing really changed, and Elizabeth was a little disappointed.

Still, she appreciated it, and gave Veronica a few caps. The scribe thanked her and put it in her "savings" bag.

The next day, Elizabeth sent everyone off to do whatever, but Raul stayed behind.

"You can go out onto the Strip with the others. I'm going to stay here so I can... prepare."

"For what?" Raul asked as he sat down in front of her.

"I have to see an old friend," She unloaded her 9mm and began to clean it. Raul leaned back and stretched. She heard a few joints pop and he sighed in relief.

"I think I'll stay here."

"That's fine. Hey, I was wondering, why does your jumpsuit say 'Miguel'?"

"Probably because it used to be Miguel's. Whoever he was."

"Do you know anything about a guy named Benny? Wears a checkered coat, carries a big pistol?" She was kind of in a hurry to ask all the questions she could.

"Benny huh? Sorry boss, doesn't ring a bell. Then again, my brain isn't as sharp as it used to be."

He leaned against the wall behind him, and Elizabeth checked her gun for anything that needed repair. "Tell me about yourself."

"Sure, boss. What do you want to know?"

"Who are you?"

"You forget about me already, boss? You sure you didn't take a blow to the head or something?"

Elizabeth chuckled, "Something like that. Anything else you want to share?"

"Boss, usually when somebody gives you a name and nothing else, it's because that's all they want to give you."

"All right. What are your skills?"

"I'm not much use besides being a portable encyclopedia, really. I guess you could use me as a pack Brahmin, but my knees aren't so good anymore."

"I don't believe that. You must have some skills."

"That's nice of you to say, boss, but I'm an old man. Not much use to anybody any more. Time was, I was a pretty good shot with a pistol. I guess I'm still half-decent. These old bones aren't much use in hand-to-hand fighting, though. I can also do maintenance work on your stuff. I don't have the supplies for a real repair job, but I can keep your gear working longer."

"Where are you from?"

"I was born just outside Mexico City. My family had a little ranch there."

"That would explain your accent. How old are you?"

"Old enough to know better, boss. Old enough to know better."

"What's Perto-Chico?" She motioned to his jumpsuit again.

"You never heard of Petro-Chico, un Amigo de Poseidon Energy? Ah, of course not. They were an oil company in Mexico, back before the War."

"Uh-huh. How'd you end up at Black Mountain?"

"Well boss, when a giant, insane Super Mutant asks you to stay put, you do what you're told. Well, maybe you don't, but I'm just a broke down old man."

"But how did Tabitha find you in the first place?"

"Ah, it's stupid, boss. I used to listen to the radio broadcasts just to pass the time. Well one day, the signal stops, so I figured I'd try to find the transmitter. I'm a pretty good repairman, or I was before the eyes started to go. Anyway, I found Black Mountain and offered my services, but Tabitha decided I was useful enough to keep around. Permanently."

"Well, I'm glad I was able to hear your distress call. That's all I wanted to know."

"Anything you say, boss."

She finished checking over her gun, then put a full magazine in and put the safety on.

"You seem to be quite the repairman yourself." Raul said. She glanced up at him, then back to her gun.

"Yeah, I guess so. I also have some medical training, so I would think I had an interesting childhood."

"Tell me about yourself, then." He said, turned to face her. She sighed and put her gun back into its holster.

"I don't remember anything except that I used to be a courier until I was shot in the head by a man named Benny. He stole something from me."

"Is that why you asked me about him?"

"Yeah. I'm kinda... going to kill him tomorrow."

"Well don't expect me to come save you if you get in trouble."

She chuckled. "Nah, I'll be fine. Just... please don't tell the others."

"Don't worry boss, your secret is safe with me. And I have one more question."

"Shoot," Elizabeth said.

"What's with the flower on your gun?"

Elizabeth turned her 9mm over and ran her fingers over the flower scratched onto the grip. It was crudely scratched on, probably something she did herself. She shrugged and said, "I guess I like flowers."

___

She was careful not to wake Veronica and Cass as she got out of bed. She hadn't slept well that night, and she needed to get this over with.

It was a little difficult putting clothes on when her hands wouldn't stop shaking. She checked her gun once more and holstered it and sheathed her machete.

She took a few deep breaths and kissed Cass on the forehead gently so she wouldn't wake up.

___

It was early morning, around 4 AM, when she walked down the street. She felt really uncomfortable being alone, and very unprotected.

She nervously chewed on her lip before walking into the Tops.

She was immediately stopped by a greeter before she could rush in and finish everything.

"Hey, hey, baby doll, welcome to the Tops Hotel and Casino! I'm going to have to ask you to hand over any weapons you might be carrying."

The pet names were making her sick, so she silently handed him her machete, but made sure to keep her gun hidden.

The receptionist (or she thinks he was the receptionist) was currently writing something down, so she walked up to him and cleared her throat.

"Um, excuse me?" She said quietly. He looked up and smiled brightly.

"Hello baby! Welcome to the Tops! What can I do for you?"

"I think you should know something about Benny." She started off bluntly to catch him off-guard.

He gaped at her, before stuttering out, "Really? You got something to say about the big boss, huh? Well, why don't you say it to his face instead of yapping at me?"

"Benny tried to kill me and stole a platinum chip I was hired to deliver."

He was quiet for a few moments, then scratched his head, "That doesn't... why would he pull a stunt like that? Got anything else to offer?"

"He tried to make it look like an accident- just a traveler killed and robbed in the Wasteland."

"He's trying to pull a fast one on the big man? Crazy bastard. You got any more?"

"I've got more evidence that proves Benny tried to kill me."

"Yeah? What else you got?"

"Look, I found these cigarette butts by the grave he buried me in." She held out one, and Swank took it and studied it, then dropped it back into her hand, "Huh. Well, yeah, okay, these are Benny's brand, and they ain't too common. You got anything else?"

"I found his lighter in Boulder City. He dropped it when he killed his partners." He took it from her and studied it, then sighed and rubbed his eyes, "What do you think?"

"Jesus kid, I think we got a real problem on our hands. Can't believe Benny's a no- good stinkin' punk. Trying to play House like that... Tell you what- I'll call Benny, keep him away from his suite. You go search the place. Here's the key, it's on the 13th floor," he handed me the key. "It's the room with the double doors, can't miss it. Maybe you'll find something we can show to Mr. House and get him arrested."

"We don't have time for that. We need to take him out right now."

He looked at me surprised, "Take him out? Jesus... okay, well, if you think that's the best way to deal with this. I'll send him up to his room, you can ambush him there. And don't worry about the rest of the Chairmen- I'll keep them from getting involved. You'll still have to watch out for Benny's guards, though."

"Thank you. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, baby," The name made her gag, but she kept her vomit down as he picked up the phone and told Benny to go to his room. She peeked behind a plant and watched a blur of black and white quickly walk to the elevators and disappear.

She, of course, waited a little while before following after Benny. She was certainly feeling nervous now, and her fingers were twitching as they brushed her gun.

She took a few breaths to calm herself, and (tried to) calmly walk to the elevators. She glanced back to check if anyone she knew was around (there weren't, why would anyone follow her?), and pressed the button to Benny's suite.

Security wasn't a problem. A man in a suit and a gun in his hand didn't pay any mind to her as she walked by.

As he turned the corner, Elizabeth checked around, and jogged up to the double doors to Benny's suite. She tried both handles, and, of course, they were locked.

She really didn't have any time, so she checked around once more, and kicked them in.

It clearly startled him, as the drink in his hand flew one way and he fell out of his seat.

He was about to pull out his gun before Elizabeth fired a warning shot and he dropped it.

She heard footsteps approaching fast, so she turned around and punched the security guard from before in the stomach, then hit him in the head with her gun, knocking him unconscious.

Benny looked completely surprised, scared even. She walked inside the suite and pointed her gun right at his head, "Get back on the chair."

He scrambled up and sat down, "H- how could you be...? You're... you're supposed to be dead..."

"One move and you're dead. But for now, talk."

"You got a crazy drop on me, baby," He smiled, even though he was clearly terrified, "But you don't want to kill me. We should be working together."

"Hand over the Platinum Chip and maybe you live."

"Can't do that, baby. The Chip, it's... special. But savor this, baby-"

"Don't call me that!" She shot another time, dangerously close to his head.

"Look, look hey, cool it, b- I mean, miss. Listen, I can comp you the Presidential- best suite in the house. After what you been through, you deserve a taste of the VIP lifestyle. Give me a moment or two to catch my breath and knock back a few cocktails, and I'll swing by for a meet and greet. I'll clue you in, guaranteed- every question answered. This can be the start of a beautiful friendship."

"Why should I trust you?" She pressed the gun to his forehead.

"I know, I made a bad first impression. You got every reason to think I'm a creep. But baby, this is an 18 karat opportunity. I've got the Chip, but to see this shin- dig through to the end? I'm gonna need help. And hello! Who shows up but you? It can't be a coincidence. You and me were meant to work together."

As stated before, Elizabeth wasn't the smartest person in the world. She was reckless and daring, and overly-curious. She, as expected, agreed to see him at the Presidential Suite.

"Wow-ee wow wow! You and me are gonna swing!" He pulled something out of his pocket set it on the table.

"Here's the key. I'll be by in a few... just as soon as my legs stop shaking."

She holstered her gun and picked up the key, and glanced at him, then quickly ran to the elevator and went to the casino floor.

It was a trap, obviously. Elizabeth should've seen it coming. But, she was fooled yet again.

Wiping the blood of her attackers off on their coat sleeves, she sheathed her machete and went back up to Benny's suite.

The securitron he had in his room certainly wasn't something she expected. It was in another room that originally wasn't connected to Benny's room. It had all sorts of tech stuff that she really didn't know (or care) about, and a lone securitron. It looked almost... happy—or at least the face in the screen looked happy. Still, it scared her when it turned to face her

"Hey! Hi there, good to meet you! What can I do for you today?" It said more cheerfully than she was comfortable with.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, not knowing what else to say.

"Good question! My function is to monitor Mr. House's data network and decode his encrypted transmissions! Allow me to introduce myself! I'm a PDQ-88b Securitron, but you can call me Yes Man!"

"Yes Man? What kind of name is that?" She mumbled.

"It's what Benny always called me. Probably because I'm programmed to be so helpful!"

"I'm just going to be blunt with you, Benny stole a Platinum Chip from me. Do you know what it's for?"

"Sure! Benny had me look at it a bunch of times! It's a data storage device, kind of like a holotape, but a lot more advanced! As for what's on it, well... Some of Mr. House's data transmissions made it sound like the Chip could upgrade his defenses somehow! That's just a guess, though! The Chip's a proprietary format! You'd need special hardware to read the data on it! There are two locations with non- standard hardware on the network- the Lucky 38 and an underground facility at Fortification Hill. I'd look there!"

"And have you seen Benny?"

"Sure! He came through here in a big hurry- didn't even stop to say hello! I think he went down his secret escape elevator out there in the hall!"

"What's Benny planning to do with the Chip?"

"Oh! He want to kill Mr. House and use the Platinum Chip to copy my neuro-computational matrix onto the Lucky 38's mainframe. That should give me control over all of Mr. House's defenses, most prominently his securitrons. And then I just do what Benny tell me- easy peasy!"

"You're very... forthcoming with information."

"I was programmed to be helpful and answer any questions I was asked. I guess nobody bothered to restrict who I answer questions for. That was probably pretty dumb, huh?"

Elizabeth made a note on her Pip-Boy while she walked to the front of the casino.

Before she walked out the door, Swank stopped her. "Is Benny taken care of?"

"He bolted. But I'll find him."

"I hope so kid. Last thing we need is that punk running around out here."

She nervously chewed on her lip once more, "Yeah, me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: benny/courier physically repulses me


	25. Reunion

The Strip was much more impressive in person than Gloria could have imagined. Sure, it had been expensive to get inside, but it was sure worth the money to see the blinking neon lights and drunk patrons laying on the street. Ace looked rather unimpressed, but that could have been because she's been here before.

Stacy, on the other hand, was having a hard time with the blinking lights and loud noises. Gloria stopped to help Stacy up, trying to calm her down from another breakdown. "It's okay, just close your eyes and cover your ears, Stacy. I'll take you somewhere quiet, okay? Just breathe," Gloria had no idea how to comfort her, but she instructed Ace to take her to the cheapest, quietest hotel and get her settled down.

The commotion around the hotel closest to the main gate caught Gloria's attention, and she slithered through the crowd to see what they were gawking at.

Out waltzed a large, muscular woman followed by a securitron and an eyebot flying at her heels, and some of the crowd began to whisper about her in wonder, amazement, shock. Gloria managed to understand why this was such a big deal.

The Lucky 38 was home of Robert House, the man who ran The Strip, and no one was allowed to enter or leave... until now.

Elizabeth blinked a couple of times when she made eye contact with a familiar woman in the crowd.

"...Hill!" Gloria could barely hear the other, but she ran straight to the Vault reject and hugged her tightly.

"Gloria Hill..." the Courier gently touched the other's cheek.

"Rosalina Elizabeth Cruz." the Wanderer replied, smiling.

___

Mr. House wasn't anything special.

Just a really smart computer man, Elizabeth thinks to herself as she walks back into the dark casino. Nothing more, nothing less.

Elizabeth decided that, while he was extremely professional, she hated him.

Still, he offered her the presidential suite for her and her friends to live in.

He gave her the details about what he wanted: The Platinum Chip for double the price. He was, after all, the one who hired her to deliver the Chip, and in the end, Elizabeth was a courier. She had a contract to fulfill, even if the recipient was a particularly unpleasant person.

Both the NCR and the Legion wanted to see her. As she exited the Tops a few days ago, an NCR messenger told her that Ambassador Crocker wanted to see her. A few minutes later, Vulpes Inculta himself told her that all the bad things (or, "sins", she guessed) she's done to the Legion were forgiven. And now, she talked to the infamous Mr. House.

These past few days have been very, very interesting.

And meeting Gloria again had managed to trigger some memories; something about a man named Chris, leaving her home, meeting Ace and getting shot in the head...

She clutched Gloria's shoulder, "Wh... where's the rest of your team?"

"Team? Ah... Butch died about a year ago, but Stacy's here. She left with Ace to get her out of a meltdown."

"I'm sorry about Butch."

Gloria shrugged, "It's whatever. So, uh, do you remember Happy Days Homeless Shelter?"

Elizabeth motioned for the other to follow her down the street, "Yeah... I think so. Why?"

"Stacy, Ace, and I are here to take you back. Elise is worried sick about you."

"How long was I gone?"

"Three months with absolutely no contact with anyone there."

The Courier hummed, "I can't. I have things to do."

"Like what?"

Elizabeth rubbed her fingers over the platinum chip, "I have to save New Vegas."

"Alright, then. Whatever you want. I think we're staying in Vault 21, so head on over there when you're done." Gloria waved goodbye, and headed back to the hotel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha what the fuck


	26. Lonesome Road

Rattlesnakes and Datura were nothing compared to the heat of the Mojave at midday. Elizabeth wiped at the sweat on her brow, glancing back at Cass who was in the same situation as her, fanning herself with her hat and sighing in frustration.

Primm was still quite a ways away from New Vegas, and the Divide further still.

This was something she had to do alone

The canyon wreckage and graffiti on broken down busses and cars caused a pang of guilt to shoot through Elizabeth's chest. "Lonesome Road", "Courier Six?", and "You can go home, Courier!" didn't deter her from wanting to go inside and find out exactly what drew her here.

She was nervous again. She looked back at Cass who was staring at her, worried and curious at the same time.

"Go back to the Lucky 38," She said.

"I'm going with you," Cass stepped forward towards her.

"Cass, please. I need to do this alone," She placed her hands on the other's shoulders, "I'll be fine."

"Elizabeth," She was about to argue, but she quickly kissed the other on the lips, "Don't be too long," She whispered. Elizabeth hugged her, then turned back toward the wreckage.

She didn't look back at her, she didn't move until she couldn't hear her footsteps any more.

She stepped toward the wreckage, and opened the door slowly, then stepped into the Divide.

The voice over the tiny speaker on Divide ED-E told her stories of her past, the history of Hopesville, the people setting down roots there, and the missiles that destroyed them—

Because of her. Because of a message she brought through the Divide.

She brushed dust off of the scarf covering her nose as the man on the speaker, Ulysses, ended their conversation as quickly as it started. His words caused a bitter feeling in her stomach, threatening to spill out on the ground in front of her. She surprised the urge to vomit and continued on through the canyon.

The end was almost as anticipated as it was anticlimactic. Ulysses gave up on his revenge, whatever it was, and peacefully stood down as Elizabeth disabled the missiles he was going to unleash on the Mojave.

The Divide erupted in fire as the flame trail of the two Couriers' last message arced into the sky...

...missiles fell on the East and the Legion encampment at Dry Wells... where the Twisted Hairs had allied, then been betrayed by Vulpes and Caesar. Legion soldiers died, their silhouettes blasted into the ground and earth, the last word of the last of the Twisted Hairs.

It was an ending to things - a way of erasing the road that had led to this point and the history that had walked with it.

Elizabeth felt... melancholy as she watched the East erupt. She could see the mushroom-shaped cloud from here. She spoke a silent prayer for her parents, and for her hometown.

It was nighttime. The moon was shining brightly, and reflected off the footlocker by her feet. She knelt down and opened it, and pulled out the contents inside.

She inserted a holotape entitled "Ulysses' Final Message" into her Pip-Boy and played it.

"Last tape, last message. In case... you best me. If you're hearing this, you have, through blood or word. This message, and all that lies with it - it is for you, Courier. If you want to know the... why of things. This world, I've walked a good part of it... I stopped only because of you. What you did - gave me pause. Long ago, I crossed the Colorado, the first among to Legion to see Hoover Dam in all its glory... and Old World wall, yet bridging two sides. And beyond it, a symbol of a two-headed Bear, an idea great enough to challenge Caesar himself. Might kill him, taking it, whether he won or lost. The Bull needs to fight, needs the challenge, without it... it falters, dies in the dust. Might be a lesson there, in you and me. Leave the thought behind the message to you. My message is this - the destruction that has been wrought, at the Divide - or elsewhere, if you couldn't stop me... It can happen again. It will keep happening. If war doesn't change, men must change, and so must their symbols. Even if it is nothing at all, know what you follow, Courier... Just as I followed you, to the end. Whatever your symbol... carry it on your back, and wear it proudly when you stand at Hoover Dam."

The message stopped, and the air was filled with silence again.

(It was done.)

Ulysses was sitting on a rock overlooking the ruins of Hopesville when Elizabeth visited him the next morning. He didn't look up at her when she walked up next to him.

"I got your final message." She said, looking over the Divide.

"Didn't think I'd be breathing to hear you say that. Message isn't important, meaning is. Had to speak of it, in case the words got lost in paper, ink, or other's voices. Maybe even yours, in time. Still, meant for you. Courier to Courier. Belongs to you now, or history. Doesn't matter."

"I'm heading back to the Mojave to settle some things." she said.

"Can hear the weight in your feet - you're bound for that Old World wall. Hoover Dam. Maybe not now - in time. Bear and Bull shed too much blood there to let it go. Can't stop you going, wouldn't. A warning, though - the Legate, Lanius. Whether Caesar stands or not, Lanius will come."

"He's just one general, I can handle him."

"Lanius carries all the terrors of the East with him. He's the myth, the weapon the Legion needs. When he arrives, he'll fall on Hoover Dam like a hammer, break the Bear in two."

"If he crosses me, I'll break him."

"Nineteen tribes could not do it. All the lights in Vegas cannot. His strength lies in his title - and it is his weakness. He will not fight a losing battle and destroy what he represents. Put the idea of loss in him. Convince him the Bear will not be the twentieth tribe beneath his heel, it will make him pause like nothing on earth. You do not need to convince him alone. Draw upon history. The past of other Legates are not filled with victories. Remind Lanius of this."

"Other Legates?"

"There are other Legates, and the one before Lanius couldn't take Hoover Dam for Caesar. That Legate's mistake is he didn't die trying. His name was Joshua - Joshua Graham. Answered for his failure - twice, some say. Caesar had him burned and cast into the earth, into the largest canyon you've ever seen. Watched the flames trail all the way to the bottom. Somehow, Joshua walked away from that, went beyond Caesar's gaze. His footsteps trailing fire, walking from one hell - maybe to another. When one is ruined like Graham was... sometimes home is the only place left. If so, he went to New Canaan, Caesar's anger written on him like a book. Caesar's orders to the Frumentarii were to watch for him, find Graham. Kill him. Didn't try. Couldn't. No good would have come of it. Graham earned his life, and his nature... it'll kill him more surely than any blade of the Legion. So if you've heard word of it or seen sign of him, let it keep. Let his history keep."

"We'll leave it to history, then."

"Then there is nothing more to be done. The Mojave awaits."

She walked a few steps away, then turned back and stood by him once more.

"My... hometown..." She began. He didn't say anything, but she knew, somehow, that he wanted her to continue.

"My hometown. It was Legion territory. Cranston. In Arizona. I hope it was destroyed."

"And why is that?"

"I realized that through rebirth, I was able to let go of my past. Terrible things happened there. I wouldn't care to tell the whole story, but..." She sighed, "Never mind. Ah, by the way, my name is Elizabeth."

He looked up at the rising sun, "I know. Soon everyone will know, too."


	27. Conclusion

The next few days were spent helping out her friends; Boone, Raul and Arcade made peace with what they've done in the past.

Elizabeth needed too as well.

It wasn't like she dwelled on it every second of the day. She would go into trances and think of her (ex-) husband, how she messed up Gloria's life, or made Camille feel like she sent her to her death.

But this wasn't the time to think about the past. There was a war approaching, and she needed to pick a side before it was too late.

She traveled to Fortification Hill on her own. A risky move on her part, but she couldn't bear to see any one of her friends killed because of her actions.

It was a massacre. Elizabeth killed almost every Legion soldier she came across, and marched into Caesar's tent.

Before anyone could attack, she sent a bullet into Caesar's head and proceeded to kill everyone else.

Benny was kneeling on the ground, hands tied behind his back, and looked a little worse for wear. He looked terrified, and honestly, Elizabeth couldn't blame him.

"You're a scrapper, miss. They didn't stand a chance. How about me?"

"What happens if I let you go?"

"Miss, that can go in any direction you want. We can take Vegas together, or I can head to the nearest sunset. Your call."

She cut his ties, threatening to take him out if he crossed her again. He seemed to get the message, and tossed her the platinum chip she lost her life over.

~~~

Mr. House was pleased that Elizabeth brought the Chip back to him. He showed her the upgrades to the Securitrons, and he gave her a mission to activate the Securitrons at Fortification Hill. She killed House after his speech. She tossed the chip into a gutter outside the Lucky 38 and made her way out of the city, towards the dam.

~~~

The battle of Hoover Dam ended like Elizabeth expected it would: peacefully.

General Oliver was none too pleased to hand over the Dam to some dumb courier, someone who could barely keep her impulses under control, let alone run a city. Elizabeth simply smiled, slapping him on the back harshly and wished him and his army well. They were welcome to go to New Vegas, but they sure as hell weren't going to run it anymore.

No, she had other plans. Bigger plans. She had found inspiration in Ace's words, to seek out those who could rebuild the areas around the Strip, starting with Freeside, so people could have a safe place to live. Securitrons could take the place of armed guards, and Elizabeth could definitely handle finances with the score she made at the Sierra Madre.

She decided to let Benny in on the fun. She assigned him as her advisor on what the hell to do about the money situation. She kept him at arm's length, but he swore up and down that he wouldn't try to jump her again. He kept on the promise, even after three years of working under her.

The Strip and areas around it had been fully renovated and welcoming to anyone who needed food, shelter, and medicine. The Followers of the Apocalypse helped out on that, with Arcade at the lead, and Julie retiring to get married to Elizabeth Kieran and handed authority to Arcade. He wasn't too happy about that, but it was better than trying to rebuild the Enclave, he realized, and reluctantly look control.

Boone ended up as a sniper again, only working for Elizabeth this time. He let go of Carla after all of these years, and started to date Arcade in 2282. They got married a year later.

Veronica and Stacy had gotten cozy and left to explore the world, sending postcards and pictures of them posing with decayed monuments and holding souvenirs shirts from gift shops they found. Eventually, they made it to the East Coast again, finding Vault 101 and Stacy payed her respects to the long-dead James and Catherine Hill, catching the members of the Vault she grew up in with what had happened over the past eight years. She told Veronica of the things Gloria had done, and they settled down somewhere in the Boston Commonwealth.

Ace and Gloria finally started dating in 2284, then had a child that same year. They named her Marigold, Gloria's mother's middle name, and they both loved her dearly. They got married a year later and spent their honeymoon in a bar fight and patched each other up as each other's wedding gift.

Cass proposed to Elizabeth on September 7, 2285 on a moonlit night. Elizabeth immediately said yes and they got married three days later. She'd never been happier in her entire life.

August 3, 2287. The air was cooler on the roof of the Lucky 38, much windier too, but Elizabeth didn't mind. The Strip looked busier than ever, the people looking like what ants used to look like before the War, bustling about, in and out of casinos, the new restaurant, and even the pawn shop.

She twisted the wedding ring on her finger, heart fluttering in her chest at the thought of being married to the woman she loved. It was liberating, in a strange way. She was going to spend the rest of her life with Cass, and she certainly wasn't regretting that.

The door behind her opened and shut, and Gloria moseyed next to the courier, plopping down on the bench next to her and opening a bottle of beer.

"It's nice up here," She said, gripping onto the railing. Even after all of this time, she was afraid of heights. Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, sure is."

The wind blew Gloria's hair out of her eyes as she looked over the edge, then stumbled back into her seat. "The Washington Monument wasn't as tall as this, geez," She sighed.

Elizabeth took a sip from her wine glass, then set it beside her as she turned to the other, "Do you think this is... fate?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean. You saved the Capital Wasteland. I saved New Vegas. Just kind of... weird, I guess, that we're here now."

"You're certainly sure of yourself, aren't you?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "You know what I mean."

Gloria downed her drink, "It is kind of weird."

"Looks like us heroines have to stick together, then?" Elizabeth smiled.

Gloria smiled back "Yeah, I suppose so."

They drank together in silence, finally at peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha that's it bye thanks for reading this if anyone got this far lmao it took me 2 years to write this. 2. years. since i was 17. i hate this i'm glad i'm done with it.  
> sorry it's so rushed i'm dying

**Author's Note:**

> this is so rushed i'm laughing  
> idk what i'm doing but it's fine


End file.
